Light from the Collision of Excited N2 with NO

When a thermal beam of N2 is excited by electrons of controlled energy and collides with NO, light is observed. The excitation function shows that this light is produced by excited N2 in metastable states. The spectrum is obtained with very low resolution, and it is identified as the transition A 2π—X 2Σ of NO, the γ bands, from low vibration levels. Experiments with other gases are briefly described.