ABSTRACT
It is well known that low lying He (2'S, 23S, 2'P, 23P) excited states are important in the active media of different kind low temperature plasma light sources. These excited helium atoms are a "reservoir" of the atoms with high energy. The energy excitation transfer, Penning ionization and charge exchange processes take place with participation of these atoms. These processes are important for formation of inversion population in different laser active media. A typical example is the He-Ne laser, whose inversion population is a result of excitation transfer from He states to highly excited neon states. A significant role of 3He isotope (used instead of 4He) is noted. To our knowledge no data are available about quenching of 3He (2'S) and 3He (2'P) excited states by collisions with Ne, N7 or other atoms and molecules. In the present work the rate constants and corresponding cross sections of the quenching of 'HeI (2'S) and 3He1 (2'P) excited states by ground state Ne and N2 are reported.
