Collision-induced dissociation of N2+ in X 2Σg+, A 2Πu and excited metastable states in N2+–N2 interactions

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Abstract
The collision-induced dissociation of 0.65–5.0 keV N2+ has been examined in an apparatus with an extended flight path through which ions take a long time to travel. Short lived states in the reactant ion beam decay radiatively prior to reaction. Reactant ions have been produced in an electron impact ion source. Collision-induced dissociation of N2+ has been studied as a function of the ionizing electron energy. Electronic and vibrational state distributions of reactant ions as functions of ionizing electron energy have been estimated from published spectroscopic data and the dissociation cross sections determined for N2+ (X 2Σg+,υ and A 2Πu,υ) ions. The relative contribution of a higher metastable ion state or states to the dissociative channels becomes more important as the incident ion kinetic energy is lowered. An energetic threshold of approximately 22.5±1.5 V has been measured for this long-lived state leading to N+ in dissociative collisions.