Modeling of the N2+ ion in cold helium plasma: dynamics of N2+/He collisions and cross-sections

Abstract

Abstract A detailed dynamical study is presented for N 2 + /He collisions running in the electronic ground state of the collision complex. Hybrid, quantum–classical dynamical calculations have been performed considering a broad range of collision energies (E coll = 0.01–100 eV) and various initial rotational–vibrational excitations of the N 2 + ion. Both non-reactive and reactive ( N 2 + collision-induced dissociation) cross-sections have been calculated with the momentum-transfer approximation applied to the former ones. A thorough comparison with pseudo-experimental data obtained from mobility measurements reported in the literature via an inverse-method approach has been performed and the effect of the rotational alignment of the N 2 + ion on calculated cross-sections has been assessed and analyzed.