Charge transfer reactions in a fast electric discharge at very high pressures

A fast electron discharge system used in a study of the reaction kinetics at pressures of up to 10 atm is described. The system was used for pumping nitrogen ion, atomic fluorine, and xenon fluoride lasers. It is noted that the apparatus operates uniformly at repetition rates of up to 30 Hz, and comprises a discharge cell that minimizes inductance and is operable at pressures of up to 15 atm. The ion molecule reactions were studied by determining ion destruction frequencies through selectively excited fluorescence (at 427.8 nm) of molecular ions. Two-body and termolecular rate coefficients are obtained for the H3-N2 mixture, with accuracy of the results estimated to be by an order of magnitude higher than previous similar results.