Energetic Ions from N2 Produced by Electron Impact

Abstract

Energy distributions, appearance potentials, and angular distributions of N⁺ ions produced by electron impact on N₂ have been observed. The energy distribution and appearance potential of the N^{+ +} ions from electron impact on N₂ were also observed. The data are interpreted to give the abundance of the ``zero‐energy'' N<sup>+</sup> and the N<sup>+ +</sup> ions. The appearance‐potential data for the ``zero‐energy'' N⁺ ions disagree with previous measurements, and a possible interpretation indicates that the conclusion of previous investigators that no excited ions are produced may not be valid.