Measurements of vibrationally excited molecules by Raman scattering. I The yield of vibrationally excited nitrogen in the reaction N+NO → N2+O

Abstract

The reaction of nitrogen atoms with nitric oxide leads to vibrationally excited nitrogen. In the presence of molecular nitrogen, V-V exchange processes rapidly establish a modified distribution for which a measurement of N2(ν=1) is adequate to determine the total vibrational energy yield of the reaction. The measurements of N2 (ν=1) have been made by Raman spectroscopy using the intensity of the Q branch of the anti-Stokes line at 4382 Å (using 4880 Å Ar+ laser radiation). The system sensitivity is determined using heated nitrogen. The measurements have established that 25 ± 3% of the available energy (3.27 eV) appears as vibrational energy and that the vibrationally excited nitrogen is an initial product and does not result from collisions of translationally hot oxygen atoms with nitrogen.