Kinetics of Ar^*₂in high-pressure pure argon

Abstract

The kinetics of argon dimer (Ar2 *) are studied in detail by model calculations. The model is applicable to discharge as well as e-beam excitation of high-pressure argon gas. The time-transient behaviour of the temperature and the vibration-translational relaxation of the excited state dimer have been considered in the model calculations. The model validity is verified by comparing the model predictions with discharge and e-beam experiments. Excellent agreement has been reached for the e-beam experiments. The predicted discharge voltage and current waveforms are in good agreement with the experiments of Ninomiya and Nakamura. The predicted net gain of 0.002 cm-1at 3.5 atm is about three times smaller.