Reactions of N/sub 2/(A/sup 3/SIGMA/sub u//sup +/) and candidates for short wavelength lasers, March 1, 1984-February 28, 1985

There are several potential schemes for efficiently generating high concentrations of the first electronically excited state of nitrogen, N/sub 2/(A/sup 3/..sigma../sub u//sup +/, 6.2 eV) by either chemical or electrical pumping. The goal of this proposal is to study ways of utilizing the energy of the N/sub 2/(A) molecules for developing efficient, short wavelength gas lasers. Such lasers are of potential interest for laser fusion. The authors report both excitation-transfer and dissociative excitation-transfer reactions of N/sub 2/(A) that yield electronically-excited diatomic molecules as products. 25 refs