Excitation of the <i>b</i> 1Σ+<i>g</i> state of O2 by low energy electrons

Abstract

Rate coefficients for excitation of the b 1Σ+g state of O2 by low energy electrons have been measured using a drift tube technique. The time dependence of the absolute intensity of the 762 nm band emission was measured for O2 densities between 1016 and 2×1018 molecules/cm3. When corrected for electron attachment, ionization, and metastable diffusion, the number of b 1Σ+g molecules produced per centimeter of electron drift and per O2 molecule calculated from the 762 nm emission varied from 1.3×10−18 cm2 at E/N=5×10−17V cm2 to 2.1×10−16 cm2 at E/N=2×10−15V cm2. These values of electric field to oxygen density ratio E/N correspond to mean electron energies of 0.75 and 6 eV, respectively. Measured decay constants for the 762 nm radiation yield a value for the product of the diffusion coefficient and the O2 density of (5.0±0.3) ×108 cm−1 sec−1 and a quenching coefficient for the b 1Σ+g state of (3.9±0.2) ×10−17 cm3 sec−1. Comparison of measured excitation coefficients with values calculated using a recommended set of electron collision cross sections for O2 show that the cross sections for direct excitation of the b 1Σ+g state are accurate near threshold and suggest that essentially all of the O2 molecules excited to levels at and above 1.63 eV result in the formation of molecules in the b 1Σ+g state.