O Atom Yields From Microwave Discharges In N2o Ar Mixtures

We have studied the products of Ar/N20 microwave discharges to determine their fitness as sources of atomic oxygen in discharge-flow reactors. For N20 feed rates below 10-20 micromol s−1, the discharge converts about 75 percent of the N20 to atomic oxygen, and in addition, produces small quantities of atomic nitrogen, generally less than 10 percent of the 0-atom product. At higher N20 feed rates the 0-atom production efficiency decreases, and some nitric oxide accompanies the 0-atoms out of the discharge.