CROSSED BEAM IMAGING OF ASSOCIATIVE IONIZATION AND STATE-TO-STATE SCATTERING DYNAMICS AT 5-10 EV: FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES FOR HYPERSONICS
Abstract
The understanding, prediction, and control of chemistry in high-temperature hypersonic flows is essential for future national security needs but at present the experimental measurements needed to build reliable models are sorely lacking. The overall objective of the proposed work is to provide needed experimental data on fundamental reactions to benchmark and constrain theoretical modeling of hypersonic flows. The proposed effort will exploit advances in laser, molecular beam, and particle detection methods to obtain quantum state-to-state scattering results in high energy collisions. The proposed work will be pursued along two thrusts. In Thrust 1 the specific objective is to obtain state-to-state differential cross sections for rotationally and vibrationally inelastic scattering of highly vibrationally excited NO molecules at high collision energy. These results, providing detailed insight into dynamics in these highly nonequilibrium conditions, will then be available for comparison to quantum and quasiclassical scattering calculations to validate the methods and the potential energy surfaces used to assess their applicability in extreme conditions relevant to hypersonic flows. Associative ionization is key to understanding plasma formation in weakly ionized hypersonic flows and this plasma leads to communication and sensor disruption for hypersonic vehicles. Understanding and overcoming this plasma formation is thus a critical aspect of the development of hypersonic systems. In Thrust 2, the specific objective is to use novel electron-ion coincidence imaging methods to obtain associative ionization cross sections and excitation functions for a range of relevant atomic species including N, O, and C, and determine both the contributing electronic states of the atoms responsible and the final product states of the newly-formed ions. The results will then be available for use in multiscale computer modeling of plasma formation in hypersonics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502210445
Entities
People
- Arthur G. Suits
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Missouri System