Experimental observations of the relaxation of vibrational energy in active nitrogen through non-Boltzmann distributions

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Abstract
The redistribution of vibrational energy in active nitrogen has been investigated downstream from a microwave discharge in flowing nitrogen. Changes in the vibrational energy distribution in the electronic ground state of N2 were studied by monitoring the effect on the vibrational intensity distribution among the N2 first positive bands emitted by a weak radio frequency discharge. It is shown that the first positive bands are produced predominantly by direct electron excitation from the electronic ground state, and that the vibrational intensity redistribution among the first positive bands therefore reflects a population redistribution among vibrational levels in the electronic ground state. The spectroscopic results indicate that the vibrational energy produced in the microwave discharge relaxes through a series of non-Boltzmann distributions as predicted by Treanor et al (1968).

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