Nitrogen Energy Transfer Study.

The use of Nitrogen as an energy transfer medium between an electrical discharge and a target molecule was investigated experimentally. Efforts were concentrated primarily upon the attainment of a high density of N2 metastable molecules in a flowing afterglow arrangement. Excitation techniques utilized were microwave surface-wave discharges and dielectric-barrier discharges at pressures of 3 - 760 Torr in N2 and Argon Nitrogen mixtures. Although the radiative lifetime of NitrogenActive state is long, the effective lifetime is at high pressures was found to be much too short for use in a flowing system.