Quenching rate constants for Ne 3P 2) metastable atoms at room temperature

Abstract

Rate constants for quenching of Ne 3P 2) metastable atoms have been measured at room temperature by the flowing afterglow technique for 12 reagents; Ar, Kr, Xe, H 2, N 2, CO, HCl, F 2, Cl 2, NF 3, N 2F 4 and N 2O. The values range from ≈5 × 10 −11 cm 3 molecule −1 s −1 for H 2 and CO up to ≈42 × 10 ⊥-11 cm 3 molecule −1s −1 for Cl 2 and F 2. Comparison with similar data for He(2 3S) and Ar( 3P 2) suggests that the thermal quenching cross sections follow the trends δ(Ar, 3P 2) > δ(Ne, 3P 2) ≳ δ(He, 2 3S). The major exceptions seem to be N 2, CO and Kr which have usually small quenching cross sections for Ar( 3P 2).