Electronic energy transfer processes in collisions of metastable argon with N2 and H2

Estimates of the rotational distributions in the N2(C3pi/sub u/, v' = 0.1) product of the reacton Ar*(3P20) + N2(X 1μ/sub g/+) → Ar(1S) + N2*(C3pi/sub u/) have been made on the band profiles of the N2(C3pi/sub u/, v' = 0.1) → N2(B3pi/sub g/, v'' = 0) fluorescence. These measurements were made at relative energies of 0.074 eV, 0.089 eV, and 0.161 eV. The N2(C3pi/sub u/, v' = 0) band was found to be well represented by Boltzmann distributions with characteristic temperatures of 1700 +- 100 K, 1600 +- 100 K, and 2200 +- 100 K, respectively. The N2(C3pi/sub u/, v' = 1) data could not be fit by Boltzmann distributions, but did fit Golden Rule distributions within the experimental error. The reaction involving metastable argon and ground state hydrogen molecules was examined by observing a continuum emission. The cross section for fluorescence was measured and seen to rise rapidly from an onset at 0.080 eV and reach a maximum around 0.125 eV. The spectral distributions were seen to peak at lower energies than that calculated by James and Coolidge, leading to speculation that at least some of the photon emission may arise from an excited state of ArH rather than the excited H2