Effect of dissociative recombination on spectral line profiles in neon glow discharge

In the present study we have shown that the dissociative recombination of Ne 2 + ions which gives rise to non-thermalized Ne atoms may be regarded as the main process responsible for the distortion of the profiles of the 753.5 and 754.4 nm neon lines. The distorted profiles were analysed as a superposition of the Ballik profile for thermalized atoms and the modified Ballik profile for non-thermalized atoms and the Lorentzian and Gaussian widths as well as the relative density of non-thermalized and thermalized atoms have been determined. We have found for the dissociation energy of the neon molecular ion Ne 2 + in the 2 Sigma u + state the value D=(1.20+or-0.08) eV. We have also found for the 3d 6 excited neon atoms of speed 1275 m s -1 the excitation transfer cross section Q 3d6 with a value Q 3d6 =(39+or-15)*10 -16 cm 2 .