Modeling of the N2+ ion in cold helium plasma II: transport properties of N2+ in helium

Abstract

Abstract A detailed modeling of N 2 + transport properties in helium gas has been performed by employing Monte Carlo calculations based on ab initio collision cross-sections reported by our group in a preceding paper (S Paláček et al 2022 Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 31 105004). A broad range of the reduced electric field ( E / N ) is considered to provide data directly usable in macroscopic modeling of processes in cold helium plasmas. The N 2 + mobility in helium gas at room temperature (T = 300 K), the characteristic energies of its longitudinal and transversal diffusion, and the rate constant of the N 2 + dissociation induced by collisions with helium atoms have been calculated. The effect of the N 2 + initial rotational-vibrational excitation is investigated as well as the effect of the rotational alignment of the N 2 + molecule. A direct comparison with N 2 + /He mobility experimental data is performed as well as indirect tests of theoretical estimates of the characteristic diffusion energies by comparing the latter with pseudo-experimental data obtained from mobility experiments via an inverse-method approach.