Fast-Flow Study of the CH + CH Reaction Products

Formations of C6H from reactions C3 + C3H2 and C3H + C3H and of C8H from reactions C4 + C4H2 and C4H + C4H

We interrogated C6H and C8H produced separately from the reactions C3 + C3H2/C3H + C3H/C3H2 + C3 → C6H + H and C4 + C4H2/C4H + C4H/C4H2 + C4 → C8H + H using product translational and photoionization spectroscopy. Individual contributions of the three reactions to the product C6H or C8H were evaluated with reactant concentrations. Translational-energy distributions, angular distributions, and photoionization efficiency curves of products C6H and C8H were unraveled. The product C6H (C8H) was recognized as the most stable linear isomer by comparing its photoionization efficiency curve with that of l-C6H (l-C8H), produced exclusively from the reaction C2 + C4H2 → l-C6H + H (C2 + C6H2 → l-C8H + H). The ionization threshold after deconvolution was determined to be 9.3 ± 0.1 eV for l-C6H and 8.9 ± 0.1 eV for l-C8H, which is in good agreement with theoretical values. Quantum-chemical calculations indicate that the reactions of C3 + C3H2 and C3H + C3H (C4 + C4H2 and C4H + C4H) incur no energy barriers that lie above the corresponding reactant and the most stable product l-C6H (l-C8H) with H on the lower-lying potential-energy surfaces. The theoretical calculation is in accord with the experimental observation. This work implies that the reactions of C3 + C3H2/C3H + C3H and C4 + C4H2/C4H + C4H need to be taken into account for the formation of interstellar C6H and C8H, respectively.

Study on Formation of Interstellar C7H from Reactions C4 + C3H2 and C4H + C3H

We interrogated C7H produced from reactions C4 + C3H2/C4H + C3H → C7H + H using both translational and photoionization spectroscopy. Reactants C3H, C3H2, C4, and C4H were synthesized in two crossed beams of 1% C2H2/He ignited by pulsed high-voltage discharge. The individual contributions of reactions C4 + C3H2 and C4H + C3H to product C7H were evaluated as 17:83 from reactant concentrations in both molecular beams. The translational energy distribution, the angular distribution, and the photoionization efficiency curve of product C7H were unraveled. C7H was identified as the most stable linear isomer by its photoionization efficiency curve that features two ionization thresholds corresponding to separate transitions to singlet and triplet states of l-C7H+. The quantum-chemical calculations indicate that the associations of C4 with C3H2 and C4H with C3H incur no entrance barriers, and the most favorable exit channel leads to product l-C7H + H. It is the first time demonstrating that C7H is producible from reactions 1,3C4 + 1C3H2 and 2C4H + 2C3H on the lowest-lying singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces of 1,3C7H2. This work implies that the reactions of C4 + C3H2 and C4H + C3H might have contributions to interstellar C7H to some extent as compared with the C + C6H2 reaction commonly adopted in an astrochemical model.

Imaging and Modeling C2 Radical Emissions from Microwave Plasma-Activated Methane/Hydrogen Gas Mixtures: Contributions from Chemiluminescent Reactions and Investigations of Higher-Pressure Effects and Plasma Constriction

Wavelength and spatially resolved imaging and 2D plasma chemical modeling methods have been used to study the emission from electronically excited C₂ radicals in microwave-activated dilute methane/hydrogen gas mixtures under processing conditions relevant to the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of diamond. Obvious differences in the spatial distributions of the much-studied C₂(d³Π_g-a³Π_u) Swan band emission and the little-studied, higher-energy C₂(C¹Π_g-A¹Π_u) emission are rationalized by invoking a chemiluminescent (CL) reactive source, most probably involving collisions between H atoms and C₂H radicals, that acts in tandem with the widely recognized electron impact excitation source term. The CL source is relatively much more important for forming C₂(d) state radicals and is deduced to account for >40% of C₂(d) production in the hot plasma core under base operating conditions, which should encourage caution when estimating electron or gas temperatures from C₂ Swan band emission measurements. Studies at higher pressures (p ≈ 400 Torr) offer new insights into the plasma constriction that hampers efforts to achieve higher diamond CVD rates by using higher processing pressures. Plasma constriction is proposed as being inevitable in regions where the local electron density (n_e) exceeds some critical value (n_ec) and electron-electron collisions enhance the rates of H₂ dissociation, H-atom excitation, and related associative ionization processes relative to those prevailing in the neighboring nonconstricted plasma region. The 2D modeling identifies a further challenge to high-p operation. The radial uniformities of the CH₃ radical and H-atom concentrations above the growing diamond surface both decline with increasing p, which are likely to manifest as less spatially uniform diamond growth (in terms of both rate and quality).

CH radical production from 248nm photolysis or discharge-jet dissociation of CHBr3 probed by cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy

The A-X bands of the CH radical, produced in a 248 nm two-photon photolysis or in a supersonic jet discharge of CHBr(3), have been observed via cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy. Bromoform is a well-known photolytic source of CH radicals, though no quantitative measurement of the CH production efficiency has yet been reported. The aim of the present work is to quantify the CH production from both photolysis and discharge of CHBr(3). In the case of photolysis, the range of pressure and laser fluences was carefully chosen to avoid postphotolysis reactions with the highly reactive CH radical. The CH production efficiency at 248 nm has been measured to be Phi=N(CH)N(CHBr(3))=(5.0+/-2.5)10(-4) for a photolysis laser fluence of 44 mJ cm(-2) per pulse corresponding to a two-photon process only. In addition, the internal energy distribution of CH(X (2)Pi) has been obtained, and thermalized population distributions have been simulated, leading to an average vibrational temperature T(vib)=1800+/-50 K and a rotational temperature T(rot)=300+/-20 K. An alternative technique for producing the CH radical has been tested using discharge-induced dissociation of CHBr(3) in a supersonic expansion. The CH product was analyzed using the same cavity ring-down spectroscopy setup. The production of CH by discharge appears to be as efficient as the photolysis technique and leads to rotationally relaxed radicals.