The drift and diffusion of potassium ions in nitrogen

Measurements of the drift velocity and lateral diffusion of positive potassium ions in nitrogen at room temperature (290-300°K) are reported for values of E/N ( E is the electric field strength in v cm −1 , N the gas number density in cm −3 ) up to 320×10 −17 v cm 2 . The zero-field reduced mobility of the ions was found to be 2·53±0·02 cm 2 v −1 s −1 , the mobility of the ions increasing above E/N = 30×10 −17 and decreasing above E/N = 220×10 −17 . The ions are shown to have remained within 5% of thermal equilibrium with the gas molecules for E/N less, similar25×10 −17 . The variations of drift velocity and lateral diffusion with E/N are compared with other available data.