Inelastic transitions of atoms and molecules induced by van der Waals interaction with a surface

Inelastic processes occuring in thermal-velocity metastable atoms and molecules passing at a mean distance (1-100 nm) are investigated. These processes are caused by the quadrupolar part of the van der Waals interaction: fine-structure transitions in atoms (Ar∗, Kr∗), rovibrational transitions in N2∗(3Σu+), transitions among magnetic sub-levels in the presence of a magnetic field.