Relaxation of vibrationally excited reaction products in a crystal lattice

The relaxation of vibrationally excited nitrogen molecules in the matrix of silver azide is studied. The effective rate constants for the interaction of an excited nitrogen molecule with free charge carriers (1.7 × 10–10 cm3 s–1) and for the generation a hole from the level of the produced defect at the expense of the vibrational energy of the molecule (3 × 1010 s–1) are estimated. An associative–dissociative mechanism of the deactivation is proposed, which consists in the capture of an electron onto the level of the produced defect with the subsequent emission of an electron into the conduction band at the expense of the vibrational energy of the excited molecule. The effective rate constants for electron emission from the excited level of a hydrogen-like defect at values of the principal quantum number of 3 and 4 are estimated as 1.8 × 109 and 2.8 × 109 s–1, respectively. Based on the processes considered, an expression for the probability of chain propagation is obtained.