Evidence of Multiple Trapping Sites for Excited Nitrogen Atoms in Solid Molecular Nitrogen

Abstract

A study of glow curves and thermal effects indicates that both ground state and excited nitrogen atoms are trapped in discharged nitrogen condensed at 4.2°K. At elevated temperatures the recombination of ground state atoms is apparently governed by a single activation energy. The excited atoms are found in two types of traps; one associated with the ordered and the other with the disordered regions in the matrix and each has a distribution of energies.