Heterogeneous vibrational relaxation of carbon monoxide

Abstract

The first results relating to heterogeneous vibrational relaxation of carbon monoxide in an Al₂O₃ ceramics tube are reported, together with an estimation of its probability. It was found that the probability of heterogeneous relaxation ε_v of the first-excited state of CO on the Al₂O₃ surface lies in the range (5 to 7) × 10⁻². The measurements show that the probabilities of heterogeneous relaxation of CO(X¹Σ, v) do not depend on the value of v, at least for v = 1, 2 and 3.