Vl. Markovic et al., EXPLANATION OF MEMORY CURVE FOR NITROGEN BY SURFACE-CATALYZED EXCITATION, Journal of physics. D, Applied physics, 26(10), 1993, pp. 1611-1613
A theory and numerical model are proposed that explain the dependence
of time delay on afterglow period, t(d)BAR = f(tau) (the memory curve)
, for the Cu-N2 system by surface-catalysed excitation at nitrogen ato
m recombination on the cathode. The kinetics in the late nitrogen afte
rglow are determined by nitrogen atom recombination. It is shown that
the nitrogen atom recombination on the container walls (glass) is of s
econd order in N (the recombination on copper is of first order). The
probability of the metastable formation of N2(A3SIGMA(u)+) by recombin
ation at the electrode surface is determined. The electron yield in th
e interelectrode space caused by metastable secondary emission (the Au
ger de-excitation process) determines the time delay. On the basis of
this mechanism, the time-delay method is very efficient in detecting n
itrogen atoms.