The temperature dependence of penning ionization electron energy spectra: He(23S)—ar,N2, NO,O2, N2O,CO2

Using two intense thermal energy He(2³S) sources of different temperatures (≈400 and ≈ 1000 K, resp.) and a transmission-calibrated electron energy analyzer with about 30meV resolution, the dependence of He(2³S) Penning ionization electron spectra on collision energy for the target species Ar, N₂, NO, O₂, N₂O and CO₂ have been studied. The energy shifts of the Penning electron energy distributions and the branching ratios for the population of different electronic states in the molecular ions are determined quantitatively and compared for the two different collision temperatures. These results and the shapes of the observed Penning electron energy distributions are discussed in the light of current models for the Penning procen; the observed temperature dependences are correlated with the nature of the ionized orbitals in cases of only one entrance channel (closed shell targets) and, in addition, to the existence of qualitatively different entrance channels (open shell targets).