Decomposition of N2O in a glow discharge

A time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been used to examine the dissociation of nitrous oxide in a glow discharge. The dissociation arises from the direct electron impact reactions e+N 2 O->N 2 +O+e and e+N 2 O->N+NO+e. The overall dissociation coefficient was found to be 7·3 × 10 −17 cm 2 for 2·2 Torr N 2 O ( E / p similar 30 V cm −1 Torr −1 ) and to increase by nearly an order of magnitude when the N 2 O is mixed with argon. The discharge product NO significantly alters the discharge conditions and is itself considerably dissociated.