Kinetics of metastable states in high-pressure nitrogen plasma pumped by high-current electron beam

An effective method for calculating the electron energy distribution function in a plasma pumped by an electron beam is suggested. The electron impact excitation rates of different N₂ and Hg states are obtained. The evolution of populations of the N₂ excited states and of the Hg radiative states in a N₂-Hg mixture is considered. The characteristic time tau _e of equilibrium establishment is shown to be strongly dependent on the pressure of the mixture. The variation of the N₂(A³ Sigma ) population is found to be determined by the dynamics of the Hg emissions if the measurement time is longer than tau _e.