Detachment of Electrons from F− Ions in a Shock-Heated Cesium Fluoride–Argon Mixture

Electron detachment rates from F− have been measured in shock-heated mixtures of cesium fluoride and argon. The detachment rate is found to increase exponentially with temperature, indicating an activation energy comparable to the electron affinity of F−. The rate constants for the reactions F−+Ar→ lim K(Ar)F+Ar+e and F−+Cs+→ lim K(Cs+)F+Cs++e have been found to be 1.2 × 10−11exp(− 40 000 / T) cm3/sec and 2.8 × 10−9exp(− 40 000 / T) cm3/sec, respectively, where T is in degrees Kelvin.