Afterglow techniques with spectroscopic detection for determining the rate coefficients and products of dissociative electron—ion recombination

Abstract

Techniques are described for determining the rate coefficients and quantitatively identifying the products of dissociative electron—ion recombination. Emphasis is placed on afterglow techniques with which most of the measurements have been made. Product detection by VUV absorption, laser induced fluorescence and emission spectroscopy, which require calibration to determine absolute number densities of atoms and radicals, is described. Particular attention is paid to the factors that complicate the measurements and to how these complications are overcome. Experimental data are included to illustrate the various techniques and the most recent data on product identification are reviewed.