Kinetic study of e-beam excited Ar--CO/sub 2/ mixture

Journal Article · Sat Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1980 · J. Chem. Phys.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5484732

Gauyacq, J P; Collier, F; Leblond, J B; Cottin, P

Dissociation of the CO/sub 2/ molecule by collision with metastable argon (/sup 3/P/sub 2/) was shown a few years ago to lead to the excitation of the first vibrational levels of the metastable (a/sup 3/..pi..) state of CO and the aim of the present work is to investigate the possibility of using this transfer reaction to obtain population inversions of the a /sup 3/Pi..-->..X /sup 1/..sigma.. transition of the CO molecule. Because of the low CO* fluorescence intensity level, we only performed an indirect kinetic study of e-beam excited Ar--CO/sub 2/ mixture. Using N/sub 2/(c..-->..B) (lambda=337 nm) fluorescence emission as an Ar* population tracer in Ar--CO/sub 2/--N/sub 2/ mixture, we measured the kinetic constants relevant to Ar--CO/sub 2/ mixture. It is shown that for certain Ar--CO/sub 2/ mixtures, 50% of the initial excitation created by the electron gun is transferred to Ar* atoms and then disappears in Ar*+CO/sub 2/ collisions. A comparative study of the instantaneous fluorescence intensity of CO* (a/sup 3/..pi..) in Ar--CO/sub 2/ mixture with that of N/sub 2/(C) in Ar*--N/sub 2/ mixture showed that the branching ratio of the Ar*+CO/sub 2/..-->..CO* (a/sup 3/..pi..) reaction was, at most, 10%. Consequently, the largest population efficiency (5%) does not permit laser oscillation in our experiment. Furthermore, the feasibility of such a laser depends on eventual direct population of ground state level by Ar*+CO/sub 2/ reaction.

• Research Organization: Division Lasers, Laboratoires de Marcoussis, Route de Nozay 91460, Marcoussis, France
• OSTI ID: 5484732
• Journal Information: J. Chem. Phys.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Chem. Phys.; (United States) Vol. 72:5; ISSN JCPSA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640304* -- Atomic
Molecular & Chemical Physics-- Collision Phenomena
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ARGON
ATOM COLLISIONS
ATOM-MOLECULE COLLISIONS
BEAMS
BINARY MIXTURES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
COLLISIONS
DISPERSIONS
ELECTRON BEAMS
ELECTRON COLLISIONS
ELECTRON-MOLECULE COLLISIONS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY LEVELS
ENERGY TRANSFER
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EXCITATION
EXCITED STATES
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
GAS LASERS
KINETICS
LASERS
LEPTON BEAMS
METASTABLE STATES
MIXTURES
MOLECULE COLLISIONS
NONMETALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLE BEAMS
POPULATION INVERSION
RARE GASES