Rate constants for deactivation of N-2(A) v=2-7 by O, O-2, and NO

Rate constants for N-2(A,v) quenching by O, for levels v = 2-7, by O-2 for levels v = 3-7, and by NO for levels v=2-4, have been measured in this work. This is the first data set for the quenching by O of vibrational levels v>3. The results of this work are based on the measurement by laser induced fluorescence (LIF) of N-2(A,v) decay in a rf pulsed postdischarge, supported by LIF measurements of NO density. O atom density is deduced by N-2(A,v=0,1) decay using the known rate constants of N-2(A,v=0,1) quenching by O, O-2, and NO. Finally, from appropriate scaling of LIF results for the various v levels, N-2(A,v) vibrational distributions are deduced, showing a quite low vibrational excitation of the triplet metastable, characterized by an average Boltzmann vibrational temperature of the order of 2000-2500 K with some superimposed structures. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.