Luminescence measurements of Xe+ + N2 and Xe2+ + N2 hyperthermal charge transfer collisions

Luminescence spectra are recorded for collisions between Xe+/Xe2+ and molecular nitrogen at energies ranging from 4.5 to 316 eV in the center-of-mass frame. In the Xe+ + N-2 collision system, evidence for luminescent charge-transfer products is only found through Xe I emission lines. The most intense features of the luminescence spectra are attributed to atomic N emissions observed above similar to 20 eV. Intense N-2(+) A (2)Pi(u) - X (2)Sigma(+)(g) and B (2)Sigma(+)(u) - X (2)Sigma(+)(g) radiance is observed from Xe2+ + N-2 collisions. The B state formation cross section decreases with collision energy until 20 eV, after which it becomes independent of impact energy with an approximate value of 3 angstrom(2). The cross section for N-1(+) A (nu > 0) formation increases with energy until 20 eV, after which it remains nearly constant at similar to 1 angstrom(2). The N-2(+) product vibrational distributions extracted from the spectra are non-Franck-Condon for both electronic product states at low collision energies. The distributions resemble a Franck-Condon distribution at the highest energies investigated in this work. [doi:10.1063/1.3629453]