Satellite Transition of the Resonance Doublet of the Na Atom in a Mixture with CF₄

The excitation spectrum of the resonance luminescence of Na atoms in a mixture with CF₄ exhibits a satellite transition corresponding to the simultaneous optical excitation of the colliding atom and molecule, Na(²S_1/2) + CF₄(${{v}_{3}}$ = 0) + h$v$ → Na(²P_1/2, 3/2) + CF₄(${{v}_{3}}$ = 1), where ${{v}_{3}}$ is the infrared active mode of CF₄ with a vibrational quantum energy of 1283 cm^–1. It is shown that the optical coupling between the upper and lower states of this asymptotically $({{R}_{{{\text{Na}} - {\text{C}}{{{\text{F}}}_{4}}}}} \to \infty )$ forbidden transition can be explained within a model that takes into account the polarization of the atom in the field of the molecule and the interaction of the dipole moment of the CF₄(${{v}_{3}}$ = 1 ↔ ${{v}_{3}}$ = 0) transition with the dipole moments of electronic transitions in the atom. The results of calculations based on this model are in satisfactory agreement with the experiment. It is noted that CF₄ may be of interest as a component of a working medium of diode pumped alkali lasers.