Electron Attachment to N2O

Abstract

Electron attachment to N2O has been studied with the swarm method in mixtures with argon and nitrogen, and the measured absolute attachment rates have been combined with beam data on the production of O− from N2O. The cross section for the production of O− from N2O at 373°K has a peak value of 8.3 × 10−18 cm2 at 2.3 eV. In the energy region between ∼ 0.2 and ∼ 1.5 eV the cross section for the production of O− from N2O increases with increasing temperature (323° ≤ T ≤ 473° K ) , suggesting dissociative attachment from higher vibrational levels of N2O. The results on mixtures with N2 evidence the formation of N2O− as a primary product of electron attachment. The apparent three‐body attachment rate coefficient increases with increasing electron energy, suggesting an activation energy for the formation of N2O−. The various swarm and beam data on electron attachment to N2O are compared and discussed. This study demonstrates further the potential of the swarm–beam technique.