Electronic excitation of N2and dissociative excitation of O2by proton impact

Abstract

The technique of energy loss spectroscopy has been applied to a study of inelastic noncharge exchange collisions between protons and molecular nitrogen and oxygen at energies of 0.6–4.0 kev. The most prominent proton impact excitation process in N2 is the Lyman-Birge-Hopfield (LBH) transition (a¹Π g ← X¹Σg+), for which the cross section increases from 0.55 to 3.0 × 10−17 cm² over the observed collision energy range. In O2, dissociation results from excitation into the continuums associated with the upper states of the Schumann-Runge (B³Σu− ← X³Σg−) and Herzberg (A³Σu+ ← X³Σg− or C³Δu ← X³Σg−) transitions. The total cross section for dissociative excitation of O2 increases from 1.0 to 2.6 × 10−17 cm².