Anomalous fast recombination in hydrogen plasmas involving rovibrational excitation

Langmuir-probe measurements in a hydrogen-containing plasma jet show anomalous fast recombination that cannot be attributed to atomic processes such as radiative or three-particle recombination. In this paper a molecular mechanism, based on the charge transfer between the atomic hydrogen ions and the rovibrationally excited hydrogen molecules (H/sub 2//sup nu ,J/+H/sup +/ to H/sub 2//sup +/+H), is presented that explains the observed fast recombinatio