Radiative lifetime measurements of NH and CH using the electron-photon delayed coincidence method

Abstract

The electron-photon delayed coincidence technique has been extended to radiative lifetime measurements of excited simple free radicals. Dissociation processes of the parent molecules NH3 and CH4 leading to formation of the excited fragments NH and CH, respectively, have been studied. For the NH radical the following lifetimes are obtained: C1 Pi (364+or-5) ns and A3 Pi (347+or-5) ns; and for CH: A2 Delta (440+or-20) ns.