A Technique for Observing Infrared Emissions from Thermal Electron-Ion Plasmas
Abstract
A technique has been developed to observe infrared emissions (1.8-3.5 microns) from the products of gas-phase reactions such as binary neutral-neutral and ion-molecule reactions and electron-ion dissociative recombination. This involves the use of a flow tube in which one of the reactive components is modulated by pulsing either the microwave cavity ionization source or one of the reactant gases (to effect the concentration of that gas or to modulate the electron density using a rapidly attaching gas). The modulation is used as a reference signal for a digital lock-in amplifier. The radiations from the reactions are spectrally dispersed in a monochromator. Sufficient signals have been obtained to permit a resolution of 1 nm, which gives rotational resolution of vibrational bands. The technique has been tested on the well-known reaction H + NO2 -> OH(v*) + NO and on recombining electron-ion plasmas. Data from these systems will be presented.
- Publication:
-
APS Annual Gaseous Electronics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- October 1997
- Bibcode:
- 1997APS..GECOWP412D