Charge transfer excitation channels in positive ion--N2O collisions at low energy

Competition between various charge transfer excitation channels has been investigated for collisions between a number of positive ions and N2O molecules over the kinetic energy range 20--1000 eV. Formation of excited products in these collisions was investigated by observing the luminescence emanating from the collision cell of an ion beam apparatus. It was found that all singly charged projectiles except He+ and Ne+ produced spectra dominated by N2O+ (A→X) transitions; impact of He+ and Ne+ yielded almost equal amounts of N2O+(A) and N2+(B). Only low yields of other possible excited species were observed. It is concluded that conversion of kinetic energy to internal energy is of little importance in collisions between these positive ions and N2O molecules, and that the excited species produced depend almost entirely on reaction energetics