A. Khacef et al., Characterization of afterglow kinetics at atmospheric pressures by emission spectroscopy. I: reactions of neon ions with N-2, J PHYS D, 32(2), 1999, pp. 176-182
The afterglow of a 1 kA, 10 ns duration discharge in neon at 1-4 bar pressu
re containing up to 10 mbar of reactant admixture N-2 was studied by time-r
esolved emission spectroscopy. Destruction rates of neon ions have been exp
erimentally determined from the selectively excited fluorescence of N-2(+)
emitted as the result of charge transfer. Reasonable agreement with previou
sly reported results was obtained over the smaller range of nitrogen pressu
res (below 0.8 mbar) used in those studies. Data obtained at reactant press
ures higher than about 1.2 mbar were consistent with a kinetic model in whi
ch vibrationally excited Ne-2(+) ions play an important role. The slow coll
isional relaxation of these ions (rate coefficient 3.7 x 10(-13) cm(3) s(-1
)) would limit the rate of Ne+ to Ne-2(+) conversion at neon pressures high
er than about 0.2 bar.