The mobility of ions in gases

Abstract

The work reported in this thesis is divided into two parts. Part A describes the measurement of the mobility of potassium ions in gases and the derivation of interaction potentials. Part B describes measurements of the magnetic drift velocity of electrons in hydrogen and deuterium. These measurements were used to gain information concerning the energy distribution functions of the electrons in each of the gases. The motion of ions moving through a gas under the influence of a static electric field is characterised by a transport coefficient, the ionic mobility. The variation of ionic mobility with gas temperature and E/N, the ratio of electric field strength to gas number density, has been used to derive the interaction potential that exists between the ion and the gas molecule. Show more