Product distributions for some thermal energy charge transfer reactions of rare gas ions

Abstract

Ion cyclotron resonance methods were used to measure the product distributions for thermal energy charge transfer reactions of He+, Ne+, and Ar+ ions with N2, O2, CO, NO, CO2, and N2O. Except for the He+–N2 reaction, no molecular ions were formed by thermal energy charge transfer from He+ and Ne+ with these target molecules. The propensity for dissociative ionization channels in these highly exothermic charge transfer reactions at thermal energies contrasts with the propensity for formation of parent molecular ions observed in photoionization experiments and in high energy charge transfer processes. This difference is explained in terms of more stringent requirements for energy resonance and favorable Franck–Condon factors at thermal ion velocities.