Vibrational excitation of the C-3 Pi(u) state of N-2 by electron impact

The relative differential cross-sections for electron impact excitation of v = 0, 1 and 2 vibrational levels of the C(3)Pi(u) state of the nitrogen mo lecule have been measured for incident energies from threshold to 17 eV and for 0 degrees scattering angle. By considering a number of possible angula r distributions for this excitation a range of differential and integral vi brational cross-sections and the total cross-section for excitation of the C(3)Pi(u) state are determined. These are used in a comparison with previou s results where there are considerable discrepancies. Resonant structures i n excitation functions of all three vibrational levels are observed and the ir locations are compared with resonances obtained in different decay chann els, from the literature. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.