Branching ratios and absolute cross sections of dissociative recombination processes of N2O+

Abstract

We have investigated the dissociative recombination of the N₂O⁺ ion using the CRYRING heavy-ion storage ring at the Manne Siegbahn laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden. The dissociative recombination branching ratios were determined at minimal (≈0 eV) collision energy, showing that the dominating pathways involved two-body fragmentation: N₂ + O (48%) and NO + N (36%). The branching ratio of the three-body break-up 2N + O was 16%. The overall thermal rate coefficient of the title reaction follows the expression k(T) = 3.34 ± 0.75 × 10⁻⁷(T/300)^{−0.57±0.03} cm³ s⁻¹, which correlates perfectly with earlier flowing afterglow studies on the same process.