Determination of the electron-ion dissociative recombination coefficients for several molecular ions at 300 K

The electron-ion dissociative recombination rate coefficients, alpha e , have been determined for ten molecular ions, seven of which have not previously been measured. The data were obtained under truly thermal conditions at 300 K using a flowing afterglow/Langmuir probe (FALP) apparatus. Recombination coefficients were obtained for the following ions: CO 2 + ( alpha e =3.1*10 -7 cm 3 s -1 ), N 2 + (2.0), CO + (1.6), KrH + (<0.2), XeH + (<0.4), HSO 2 + (2.7), CH 3 CNH + (3.3), CH 3 CHOH + (3.9), C 2 H 5 CNH + (4.7) and ((CH 3 ) 2 CO) 2 H + (14). The dissociative recombination of many of the ions studied may be important in planetary, cometary and terrestrial atmospheres and be involved in the synthesis of interstellar molecules.