Integral cross sections for electron-impact excitation of the C 3Πu, E 3Σ+g and a″ 1Σ+g states of N2

Abstract

Absolute integral cross sections (ICSs) for electron-impact excitation of the C 3Πu, E 3Σ+g and a″ 1Σ+g states of N2 from the X 1Σ+g (v″ = 0) ground-state level are presented for electron-impact energies of 13, 15, 17.5, 20, 25, 30, 50 and 100 eV. ICSs are also presented for the individual vibrational levels of the C 3Πu state (v′ = 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4). The ICSs were derived from recent differential cross sections determined via energy-loss spectroscopy (Malone et al 2009 Phys. Rev. A 79 032704; Malone et al 2009 Phys. Rev. A 79 032705). The results are compared with existing measurements in the literature.