Electron-temperature dependence of the recombination of NH4+(NH3)n ions with electrons

The two-body recombination of NH4+(NH3)2,3 cluster-ions with electrons has been studied in an afterglow experiment in which the electron temperature Te was elevated by radio-frequency heating from 300 K up to 900 K. The recombination coefficients for the n = 2 and n =3 cluster ions were found to be equal, α2(2) = α3(2) = (4.8 ± 0.5) × 10−6 cm3/s, and to vary with electron temperature as Te−0.65 rather than to be nearly temperature-independent as had been inferred from measurements in microwave-heated plasmas.