High-resolution study of the luminescent electronic energy transfer reaction of Xe(3P0,2) with 14N2 and 15N2 Original Research Article

The excitation of nitrogen molecules into the B 3Πg state by collisional energy transfer from Xe∗(3P0 and 3P2) was studied in a Xe∗ beam/N2 gas cell arrangement for the isotopic targets 15N2 and 14N2 under single collision conditions. Using a sophisticated CCD detector, high-resolution spectra of the N2(B-A) emission bands were recorded. Earlier results on 14N2 could be considerably extended and improved in accuracy. They were also revised in certain details. The 15N2 spectra exhibit dramatic isotope effects, both as regards the vibrational distribution and the rotational population of the products. These results are rationalized in terms of isotopic shifts of the vibronic semi-empirical interaction potentials [V. Aquilanti, R. Candori, F. Pirani, T. Krümpelmann and Ch. Ottinger, Chem. Phys. 142 (1990) 47].