ION-ION MUTUAL NEUTRALIZATION OF N-2(+) WITH F- AND OTHER FLUORINE-CONTAINING NEGATIVE-IONS

The positive ion-negative ion neutralization reaction of molecular nitrogen ion (N-2(+)) with F and other negative ions such as SF5- has been studied using the flowing afterglow technique. It has been observ;ed that the product neutral N-2 is not only formed in an electronically excited state but is also vibrationally excited. The vibrational population distribution of the N-2(B (3) Pi(g)) product shows a non-Franck-Condon behavior with a peak at v' = 7 which may be attributed to the avoided curve crossing of the potential energy surface of the intermediate binary complex in the charge-separated N-2(+)-F- ion pair state with that of the neutral covalent N2(a)-F intermediate hypersurface and the energy degeneracy of N-2(a (1) Pi(g), v' = 1) and N-2(B (3) Pi(g), v' = 7) levels.