Reaction energy analysis by plasma diagnostics

It is well known that the cross section for electrons colliding with neutral molecules in the gaseous state is greater than for photons. The authors suggest that short-time pulsed plasma diagnostics with Langmuir probes (Wokock et al., 1977) might be used to extract information on non-elastic collision processes in weakly ionised gases. Initial experiments have been carried out in a nitrogen plasma, with a nitrogen pressure of 1.33 Pa and an electron density of 1014 m-3 to determine successful ways of operation.