Kinetic investigation of ground state carbon atoms, C(23 P J )

Abstract

A kinetic study of C(23PJ), generated by the repetitive pulsed irradiation of carbon suboxide in the Schumann region, is presented. The ground state carbon atoms were monitored photoelectrically by resonance absorption at λ≈ 166 nm in the time-resolved mode. The resulting photoelectric signals were translated into kinetic data by means of rapid response precision logarithmic circuitry, signal averaging and computerised analysis of the raw data. Rate data for the removal of C(23PJ) in the presence of the added reactant gases H2, O2, NO, N2O, CO2, H2O and C3O2 are reported and these are compared with those derived from other studies involving vacuum ultra-violet absorption spectroscopy, principally “single-shot” flash photolysis experiments involving oscilloscopic recording of attenuation of resonance radiation and plate photometry. The advantages of the present method, premitting detailed investigation of the atomic decays, are demonstrated.