Detection of trielectronic recombination of In+ ion

The trielectronic recombination of an In⁺ (4d ¹⁰5s ^{2 1} S ₀) ion in collisions with slow electrons, including the two-electron excitation of the 5s2 core of the ion with the simultaneous capture of the triply excited 5p ³ intermediate autoionizing state with its subsequent radiative stabilization 5p ³ → 5s5p ² + hν has been detected and experimentally examined for the first time. The maximum effective cross section of trielectronic recombination is 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁶ cm², which is comparable to the effective cross sections for both dielectronic recombination and electron excitation of the In⁺ ion.