Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.119, No.11, 2475-2482, 2015
Radiation Effects in Solid Nitrogen and Nitrogen-Containing Matrices: Fingerprints of N-4(+) Species
The radiation effects and relaxation processes in solid N-2 and N-2-doped Ne matrices, preirradiated by an electron beam, have been studied in the temperature range of 5-40 and 5-15 K, respectively. The study was performed using luminescence methods: cathodoluminescence CL and developed by our group nonstationary luminescence NsL, as well as optical and current activation spectroscopy methods: spectrally resolved thermally stimulated luminescence TSL and exoelectron emission TSEE. An appreciable accumulation of N radicals, N+, N-2(+) ions, and trapped electrons is found in nitrogen-containing Ne matrices. Neutralization reactions were shown to dominate relaxation scenario in the low-temperature range, while at higher temperatures diffusion-controlled reactions of neutral species contribute. It was conceived that in a-phase of solid N-2, the dimerization reaction (N-2(+) + N-2 -> N-4(+)) proceeds: hole self-trapping. Tetranitrogen cation N-4(+) manifests itself by the dissociative recombination reaction with electron: N-4(+) + e(-) -> N-2*(a(1)Sigma(-)(u)) + N-2 -> N-2 + N-2 + h nu. In line with this assumption, we observed a growth of the a('1)Sigma(-)(u) -> X-1 Sigma(+)(g) transition intensity with an exposure time in CL spectra and the emergence of this emission in the course of electron detrapping on sample heating in the TSL and NsL experiments.