TY - GEN
T1 - Behavior of ro-vibrationally excited H2 molecules and H atoms in a plasma expansion
AU - Vankan, P.J.W.
AU - Schram, D.C.
AU - Engeln, R.A.H.
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - The behavior in a supersonic plasma expansion of H atom and H2 molecules, both ground-state and ro-vibrationally excited, is studied using various laser spectroscopic techniques. The ground-state H2 molecules expand like a normal gas. The behavior of H atoms and H molecules, on the other hand, is considerably influenced, and to some extend even determined, by their reactivity. The H atoms diffuse out of the expansion due to surface association at the walls of the vacuum vessel. Moreover, by reducing the surface area of the nozzle by a factor of two, the amount of H atoms leaving the source is increased by one order of magnitude, due to a decreased surface association of H atoms in the nozzle. The evolution of the ro-vibrational distributions along the expansion axis shows the relaxation of the molecular hydrogen from the high temperature in the up-stream region to the low ambient temperature in the down-stream region. Whereas the vibrational distribution resembles a Boltzmann distribution, the rotational distribution is a non-equilibrium one, in which the high rotational levels (J > 7) are much more populated than what is expected from the low rotational levels (J
AB - The behavior in a supersonic plasma expansion of H atom and H2 molecules, both ground-state and ro-vibrationally excited, is studied using various laser spectroscopic techniques. The ground-state H2 molecules expand like a normal gas. The behavior of H atoms and H molecules, on the other hand, is considerably influenced, and to some extend even determined, by their reactivity. The H atoms diffuse out of the expansion due to surface association at the walls of the vacuum vessel. Moreover, by reducing the surface area of the nozzle by a factor of two, the amount of H atoms leaving the source is increased by one order of magnitude, due to a decreased surface association of H atoms in the nozzle. The evolution of the ro-vibrational distributions along the expansion axis shows the relaxation of the molecular hydrogen from the high temperature in the up-stream region to the low ambient temperature in the down-stream region. Whereas the vibrational distribution resembles a Boltzmann distribution, the rotational distribution is a non-equilibrium one, in which the high rotational levels (J > 7) are much more populated than what is expected from the low rotational levels (J
U2 - 10.1063/1.1941667
DO - 10.1063/1.1941667
M3 - Conference contribution
T3 - AIP Conference Proceedings
SP - 1013
EP - 1018
BT - Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics, 10-16 July 2004, Bari, Italy
ER -