Low-energy electron distribution in electron-beam-excited XeCl laser mixtures

The electron energy distributions for energies lower than 17 eV and their time-dependent evolution are calculated for electron-beam-excited Ne/Xe/HCl mixtures. A time-dependent Boltzmann equation including all interactions between electrons and ground- or excited-state species is solved together with a detailed full kinetics model for XeCl lasers. The effects of electron-electron collision, HCl concentration, and excitation rate on the steady-state electron energy distribution are examined. Under certain conditions, that is, for relatively high excitations and relatively low initial HCl concentrations, the low-energy electron distributions tend to be Maxwellian, and their average energies depend on various inelastic processes which cool down the electron energy. All electron reaction rates, especially those related to HCl vibrational excitation and dissociative attachment, are a function of the excitation rate and the transient HCl (v), Xe*, Xe**, and electron densities.