UV Study of the Fourth Positive Band System of CO and O i 135.6 nm From Electron Impact on CO and CO 2

Abstract

We have measured the 30 and 100 eV far ultraviolet (FUV) emission cross sections of the optically allowed Fourth Positive Group (4PG) band system (A 1 Π → X 1 Σ + ) of CO and the optically forbidden O ( 5 S o  →  3 P) 135.6 nm atomic transition by electron-impact-induced-fluorescence of CO and CO 2 . We present a model excitation cross section from threshold to high energy for the A 1 Π state, including cascade by electron impact on CO. The A 1 Π state is perturbed by triplet states leading to an extended FUV glow from electron excitation of CO. We derive a model FUV spectrum of the 4PG band system from dissociative excitation of CO 2 , an important process observed on Mars and Venus. Our unique experimental setup consists of a large vacuum chamber housing an electron gun system and the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph optical engineering unit, operating in the FUV (110–170 nm). The determination of the total O i ( 5 S o ) at 135.6 nm emission cross section is accomplished by measuring the cylindrical glow pattern of the metastable emission from electron impact by imaging the glow intensity about the electron beam from nominally zero to ~400 mm distance from the electron beam. The study of the glow pattern of O i (135.6 nm) from dissociative excitation of CO and CO 2 indicates that the O i ( 5 S o ) state has a kinetic energy of ~1 eV by modeling the radial glow pattern with the published lifetime of 180 μs for the O i ( 5 S o ) state.