Excitation of theWΔu3,wΔu1,B′Σu3−, anda′Σu1−States ofN2by Electron Impact

Abstract

Electron energy-loss spectra have been obtained for ${\mathrm{N}}_2$ at 20.6 eV impact energy and scattering angles of 10°-138°. These spectra have been analyzed to yield the first identification of excitation to the $W{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}\Delta _{\mathrm{u}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}$, $w{}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}\Delta _{\mathrm{u}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}$, $B^{\prime }{{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}\Sigma _{\mathrm{u}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}}^{-}$, and $a^{\prime }{{}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}\Sigma _u^{}{}_{}{}^{}}^{-}$ states in electron impact spectroscopy, and the angular dependence of the excitations from 10° to 130°. The differential cross section for excitation of the $W{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}\Delta _{\mathrm{u}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ state is the largest triplet-state cross section at all scattering angles, and is the largest inelastic cross section section at angles greater than 70°.