Ternary Recombination in Hydrogen Plasma

The recombination of H3 + ions with electrons was studied using FALP apparatus. Reported is observation of dependence of overall recombination process on He pressure and hydrogen partial pressure at 260 K. The effective plasma recombination rate is driven by binary H3 + + e - and ternary H3 + + e - + He processes with the rate coefficients αbin = 7.5×10 -8 cm 3 s -1 and KHe = 2.8×10 -25 cm 6 s -1 respectively. The difference between recombination of para- and ortho- H3 + is discussed. Scheme of overall recombination process is proposed and discussed.