DISSOCIATIVE RECOMBINATION OF NO+

Cross sections for dissociative recombination and dissociative excitat ion of NO+ in the vibrational ground state have been measured at a hea vy-ion storage ring. Branching ratios for dissociative recombination i nto different electronic states of the atomic fragments have also been determined by an imaging technique. More than 80% of the dissociative recombination events at E = 0 eV produced N(D-2) + O(P-3). The rotati onal temperature of the NO+ ion beam was changed by a factor of 2 by e mploying different types of ion sources. The branching ratios and the dissociative recombination cross section as a function of energy were independent of the rotational temperature. The dissociative recombinat ion cross section was proportional to E-1 at low energies and had peak s in the energy regions 3-8 eV and 10-16 eV. We obtain a total dissoci ative recombination rate alpha = 4 x 10(-7) cm(3)/s at T = 300 K for N O+ in the vibrational ground state.