Charge transfer cross sections for metastable N+(1D) in collision with krypton and carbon monoxide

Cross sections for the exothermic charge transfer processes involving ground and metastable N+ ions and Kr and CO have been obtained in the energy range from 1−500 eV. For both target species, the cross section for the metastable ion is larger than for the ground state in the low ion energy region. This difference is explained by the availability of excited product state which can carry away the exothermicity of the reaction. The method used to dfetermine the fraction of metastable N+ ions present in the primary ion beam is discussed.