Detachment of Electrons from F− Ions in a Shock-Heated Cesium Fluoride–Argon Mixture

Abstract

Electron detachment rates from F⁻ have been measured in shock‐heated mixtures of cesium fluoride and argon. The detachment rate is found to increase exponentially with temperature, indicating an activation energy comparable to the electron affinity of F⁻. The rate constants for the reactions $${\mathrm{F}}^{-}+\mathrm{Ar}\to {\displaystyle {lim}^{\mathrm{K(}\mathrm{Ar})}}\mathrm{F}+\mathrm{Ar}\mathrm{+e}$$ and $${\mathrm{F}}^{-}+{\mathrm{Cs}}^{+}\to {\displaystyle {lim}^{\mathrm{K(}{\mathrm{Cs}}^{+})}}\mathrm{F}+{\mathrm{Cs}}^{+}\mathrm{+e}$$ have been found to be ${\text{1.2\hspace{0.17em}×\hspace{0.17em}10}}^{\text{−11}}\exp \text{(−\hspace{0.17em}40 000\hspace{0.17em}/\hspace{0.17em}T)}{\mathrm{cm}}^3/\sec$ and ${\text{2.8\hspace{0.17em}×\hspace{0.17em}10}}^{\text{−9}}\exp \text{(−\hspace{0.17em}40 000\hspace{0.17em}/\hspace{0.17em}T)}{\mathrm{cm}}^3/\sec$ , respectively, where $T$ is in degrees Kelvin.