Studies of Light Emission in the Pulse Radiolysis of Gases: Electron-Ion Recombination in Nitrogen

An experimental method for studying ion recombination processes using pulse radiolysis is described. The electron‐ion recombination coefficient in N₂ (280–980 torr) has been determined to be ${\text{3± 0.6× 10}}^{\text{−6}}{\mathrm{cm}}^3{\mathrm{ion}}^{\text{−1}}·{\sec }^{\text{−1}}$ at 25°C by analysis of the light emitted by ${\mathrm{N}}_2{\mathrm{(C}}^3{\pi }_u)$ , which is produced in the neutralization reaction. This recombination coefficient obeys a T^−1/2 dependence. The formation of O₃ from an O₂–SF₆ system was used as a radiation dosimeter to obtain the concentration of ions produced by a pulse of 13 MeV electrons.