The dissociative recombination of O2+: The quantum yield of O(¹S) and O(¹D)

Data from the visible airglow experiment on the Atmosphere Explorer‐E satellite have been used to determine the quantum yield of O(¹S) and O(¹D) from the dissociative recombination of O2+. A range of values between 0.09 and 0.23 has been obtained for the quantum yield of O(¹S). It is shown that the quantum yield of O(¹S) depends on the ratio of electron density to atomic oxygen density. This suggests that the quantum yield of O(¹S) may depend on the degree of vibrational excitation of the recombining O2+. The quantum yield of O(¹D) has been measured to be 1.23±0.42, with no dependence on the electron‐oxygen ratio.