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U.S. Department of Energy
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Electron energy distributions and vibrational population distributions

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5094473
This last year two experimental groups have reported on the vibrational population distributions of hydrogen molecules, H{sub 2}(v{double prime}), generated in a hydrogen discharge. These distributions extend up to the v{double prime} = 5 vibrational level corresponding to the threshold excitation for significant H{sup -} production. A comparison of theoretical modelling distributions with the measured distributions of Stutzin et al. has shown a qualitative agreement taking into account known excitation processes, and fair quantitative agreement when account was taken of the calculated wall relaxation parameters. In this paper these comparisons are extended to include the distributions of Eenshuistra et al., and provide further insights into the formation processes. A novel feature of the Eenshuistra distributions is a five-fold enhancement of the high v{double prime} levels with increased discharge current. These data are shown in Fig. 1 for the 5 Amp'' and 30 Amp'' cases summarized in Table 2, page 104, of Ref. 3. The sources of this enhancement are considered in this paper. 27 refs., 11 figs., 2 tabs.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOD
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
5094473
Report Number(s):
UCRL-102454; CONF-891055--2; ON: DE90005550; CNN: AFOSR-ISSA-89-0039
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English