Abstract
Nitrogen ions of velocity 1.6 × 108 cm sec-1 to 6.0 × 108 cm sec-1 passed through a carbon foil of thickness about 500 Å which served both to increase the degree of ionization and to leave the ions in excited states. It is shown that by measuring the relative intensities of the de-excitation emission lines as a function of ion velocity the degree of ionization of the emitting ions can be determined unambiguously, in confirmation of the suggestion made by Kay in 1963. Measurements of line intensities as a function of distance from the exciting foil yield directly the mean lives of excited states in singly and doubly ionized nitrogen. The techniques should be capable of extension to very high degrees of ionization.

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