Kinetic study of the reaction Ca+ + N2O from 188 to 1207 K.

Ion-molecule reactions involving metallic species play a central role in the chemistry of planetary ionospheres and in many combustion processes. The kinetics of the Ca(+) + N(2)O --> CaO(+) + N(2) reaction was studied by the pulsed multiphoton dissociation at 193 nm of organo-calcium vapor in the presence of N(2)O, followed by time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy of Ca(+) at 393.37 nm (4(2)P(3/2) <-- 4(2)S(1/2)).