Electron-ion recombination rate coefficient measurements in a flowing afterglow plasma

The flowing-afterglow technique in conjunction with computer modeling of the flowing plasma has been used to determine accurate dissociative-recombination rate coefficients alpha for the ions O-2(+), HCO+, CH5+, C2H5+, H3O+, CO2+, HCO2+, HN2O+, and N2O+ at 295 K We find that the simple form of data analysis that was employed in earlier experiments was adequate and we largely confirm earlier results. In the case of HCO+ ions, published coefficients range from 1.1 x 10(-7) to 2.8 x 10(-7) cm(3)/s, while our measurements give a value of 1.9 x 10(-7) cm(3)/s.