Determination of Momentum Transfer and Inelastic Collision Cross Sections for Electrons in Nitrogen Using Transport Coefficients

摘要

Momentum transfer and inelastic collision cross sections for electrons in N2 were obtained from electron transport coefficients for values of the electron energy between about 0.003 and 30 eV. The cross sections for vibrational excita tion are consistent with those of Schulz provided the sum total cross section is normalized to 5.5 x 10 to the-16th power sq cm at 2.2 eV. Furthermore, a tail extending down to the threshold of 0.29 eV is postulated for the v = 1 vibrational level. Electronic excitation is approximated by a set of six effective cross sections which, for the most part, are consistent with previous results. The ionization cross section of Tate and Smith was used. The mean energy of electrons in N2 subjected to high frequency ac electric fields is found to be single valued function of the electric field E divided by the ac radian frequency, although there are regions of E/radian frequency where the mean energy increases extremely rapidly with E/radian frequency. (Author)