Collisional-Dissociative Recombination of Electrons with Molecular Ions

The recombination rate of electrons in a hypothetical plasma containing ions of a molecule having both repulsive and bound neutral states is calculated for electron densities between ${10}^{10}$ and ${10}^{14}$/${\mathrm{cm}}^3$ and temperatures ranging from 250 to 2000°K. It is found that if the molecule has a dissociative state located sufficiently close in energy to the molecular ion, values are obtained considerably in excess of the collisional-radiative recombination rate for systems possessing only bound states.