Ionic reactions in atmospheric, interstellar and laboratory plasmas

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Abstract
The ionic reactions that can occur in ionized gases, and especially those in naturally-occurring low-temperature gaseous plasmas, are discussed. These reactions include several types of positive ion and negative ion reactions with molecules, ion-electron dissociative recombination reactions, electron attachment reactions and ion-ion mutual neutralization reactions. The laboratory techniques used to study and to determine the rate coefficients for these reactions are briefly described. Three case studies are presented which illustrate how the various types of ionic reactions modify the ionic and neutral composition of ionized media. These case studies describe the reactions which (1) lead to the observed ions in the terrestrial atmosphere; (2) produce the neutral molecules and molecular ions that are detected in interstellar gas clouds; and (3) can occur in the laboratory discharge plasmas that are used to etch the surfaces of semiconductors in the preparation of microprocessors.

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