A theory was developed which predicts the equilibrium electron energy distributions resulting from the injection of an electron beau into molecular nitrogen. The results were highly non-Maxwellian with a depletion region existing near 2.5 eV. Using these distributions, fractional power transfers to various excitation pro¬cesses were calculated. The theory was verified experimentally by using Langmuir prober to measure the electron energy distributions produced by a beam generated by a cold cathode discharge, in low pressure nitrogen. The distribution were treasured in absolute units and coopered directly with theory. All of the major features of the theory were found to be present in the measurement.
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