Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Excitation of the B $sup 3$Pi/subg/ states of N$sub 2$ by electron impact

Journal Article · · Phys. Rev., A, v. 12, no. 2, pp. 468-474
OSTI ID:4169609

Radiative lifetime measurements of 13 vibrational levels of the B $sup 3$Pi/subg/ state of N$sub 2$ have been obtained at 50 eV incident electron energy and 30 mTorr N$sub 2$ gas pressure using a 50-$mu$sec electron excitation pulse. Two radiative decay components with lifetimes of approximately 5 and 25 $mu$sec are observed in each case. The short-lived component is identified as the contribution from direct excitation of the B $sup 3$Pi/subg/ state. The long- lived cascade contribution is observed to decrease from 37% of the total B $sup 3$Pi/subg/$Yields$A $sup 3$$Sigma$/subu/$sup +$(v', v'') radiation for the v' = 0 vibrational level to 15% for the v' = 12 level and is consistent with theoretical predictions by Cartwright et al.

Research Organization:
Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
NSA Number:
NSA-33-001855
OSTI ID:
4169609
Journal Information:
Phys. Rev., A, v. 12, no. 2, pp. 468-474, Journal Name: Phys. Rev., A, v. 12, no. 2, pp. 468-474; ISSN PLRAA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English