Ionization of Gases by Collisions of Their Own Accelerated Atoms and Molecules

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Abstract
Apparatus for producing fast neutral atom beams and measuring ionization caused by collisions of these atoms with others is described together with preliminary results on argon and nitrogen. The ionization of argon atoms appears to be similar to ionization by electron collisions in that the efficiency reaches a peak and falls off again with increasing speed. Ionization of nitrogen by neutral nitrogen was observed but the nature of the ionization function was not positively established.