Varju J, Hejduk M, Dohnal P, Jílek M, Kotrík T, Plašil R, Gerlich D, Glosík J. Nuclear spin effect on recombination of H₃⁺ ions with electrons at 77 K.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2011;
106:203201. [PMID:
21668226 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.106.203201]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2010] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Utilizing different ratios of para to ortho H₂ in normal and para enriched hydrogen, we varied the population of para-H₃⁺ in an H₃⁺ dominated plasma at 77 K. Absorption spectroscopy was used to measure the densities of the two lowest rotational states of H₃⁺. Monitoring plasma decays at different populations of para-H₃⁺ allowed us to determine the rate coefficients for binary recombination of para-H₃⁺ and ortho-H₃⁺ ions: (p)α(bin)(77 K) = (1.9 ± 0.4) × 10⁻⁷ cm³ s⁻¹ and (o)α(bin)(77 K) = (0.2 ± 0.2) × 10⁻⁷ cm³ s⁻¹.
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