Low Energy Electron Attachment to Ozone using Swarm Techniques

Abstract

The rate coefficients for the attachment of low energy electrons to ozone have been measured using the drift tube technique. The rate coefficients obtained in pure ozone at 300°K and in ozone-carbon dioxide mixtures at 200 and 300°K are consistent with a two-body attachment process which is independent of temperature. The rate coefficients measured in O3–CO2 mixtures can be expressed as (1.9± 0.4)× 10−9 (εK)1.46 cm3/sec for characteristic electron energies εK between 0.02 and 0.3 eV. This result is used to derive an energy dependent cross section for electron attachment to O3 for comparison with the electron beam data.