Electron attachment on HI and DI in a uniform supersonic flow: thermalization of the electrons

In order to check the electron thermalization in the CRESU technique (Cinetique de Reaction en Ecoulement Supersonique Uniforme, e.g., "reaction kinetics in a uniform supersonic flow"), electron attachment on HI and DI has been studied in the 48-170 K range. Attachment to HI is exothermic and the reaction is expected to be fast and to proceed at a rate close to the capture limit. On the contrary, attachment to DI is slightly endothermic, and a strong positive temperature dependence of the measured rate coefficient is expected if the electrons are thermal. This dependence is not observed, and we conclude that the electrons are not in thermal equilibrium with the neutrals in the afterglow. A model, based on electron heating by superelastic collisions with the buffer gas, is proposed to explain this fact and implications for previously published results are discussed.