Electron attachment by chlorine donors in e-beam pumped laser gas mixtures

Abstract

The electron attachment rate constants of HC1, CCl₄, CH₃Cl, CH₂Cl₂, NOCL, and C1F have been measured in electron‐beam excited mixtures of the chlorine donor in a majority buffer gas. The measurements were made by monitoring the electron current decay after termination of the e‐beam pulse, in conditions resembling an e‐beam controlled laser discharge. The possible enhancement of attachment due to vibrational excitation of the chlorine donor under e‐beam pumping was studied by performing measurements with e‐beam currents of 15 and 500 mA/cm². With the exception of methyl chloride, no enhancement was observed. HC1 attachment was also measured at 5 A/cm² by a steady‐state technique, and vibrational enhancement was still insignificant. The implications of these results for XeCl laser kinetics are discussed.