Electron mobility in mixtures of optically excited sodium vapor, molecularnitrogen, and heavy inert gases

A study is made of the processes of formation of a nonequilibrium electron energy distribution in mixtures of sodium, molecular nitrogen, and heavy in ert gases. It is shown that in these mixtures, a local maximum on the elect ron energy distribu ion can form in the energy range corresponding to the R amsauer minimum in the elastic collision cross section for inert gases. The question is discussed of whether the electron mobility can become negative during the resonant optical excitation of the 3S-3P transition in sodium, The electron distribution function is calculated parametrically to determin e the critical plasma parameters for which negative electron mobility can b e observed in experiments, specifically, the composition of the mixture, th e concentration of resonantly excited sodium atoms, the temperature corresp onding to the distribution of vibrationally excited molecules, the degree o f ionization, and the electric field strength.