DISSOCIATIVE RECOMBINATION AND EXCITATION OF D3+

Measurements of the dissociative recombination of deexcited D3+ ions yield cross sections similar at low energies to those found for H-3+ [H. Hus et al., Phys. Rev. A 38, 658 (1988)]. Previous measurements [J. B. A. Mitchell et al., J. Phys. B 17, L909 (1984)] performed with excited ions indicated that there was an isotope effect giving rise to a larger cross section for H-3+ than for D3+. This effect can in fact be explained in terms of differing vibrational-state populations in those studies rather than by molecular-dynamics arguments. Dissociative excitation measurements for D3+ are found to contain a wealth of resonance structure.