Dissociative electron attachment cross sections for ro-vibrationally excited NO molecule and N- anion formation

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical study of dissociative electron attachment to vibrationally excited NO molecules, providing detailed cross sections and rate coefficients, and highlighting significant N$^-$ formation at low electron energies.

Contribution

The study introduces a comprehensive theoretical calculation of ro-vibrationally-resolved cross sections for NO dissociative attachment, including N$^-$ formation, with comparison to experimental data.

Findings

Large N$^-$ cross section at low electron energy for vibrationally excited NO

Detailed ro-vibrational cross sections and rate coefficients provided

Discussion of molecular rotation effects on attachment processes

Abstract

Motivated by the huge need of data for non-equilibrium plasma modeling, a theoretical investigation of dissociative electron attachment to the NO molecule is performed. The calculations presented here are based on the Local-Complex-Potential approach, taking into account five NO$^-$ resonances. Three specific channels of the process are studied, including the production of excited nitrogen atoms $\mathrm{N}(^2\mathrm{D})$ and of its anions N$^-$. Interpretation of the existing experimental data and their comparison with our theoretical result are given. A full set of ro-vibrationally-resolved cross sections and the corresponding rate coefficients are reported. In particular, a relatively notably large cross section of N$^-$ ion formation at low energy of the incident electron and for vibrationally excited NO target is predicted. Finally, molecular rotation effects are discussed.