The charge-transfer reaction N⁺₂ (X, ν = 0) + Ar → Ar⁺ + N₂ from thermal to 20 eV c.m.

Guided-ion beam mass spectrometry is used to measure the charge-transfer reaction of N⁺₂ to Ar from thermal to 20 eV c.m. under single-collision conditions. A flow-tube source, in which the nascent ions undergo approximately 100000 collisions, is used to produce a beam of N⁺₂ ions,>99.9% of which are in their ground electronic and vibrational state. The energy dependence of the reaction is interpreted to indicate that at low kinetic energies the reaction goes through a long-lived collision complex and through a direct mechanism at elevated energies.