Dissociative recombination exalts molecular growth in N2/CH4 plasmas

Abstract

We present a comparison of the outcomes of two models of N2/CH4 VUV plasmas in two sets of conditions representative of a laboratory experiment and of Titan's ionosphere. The “FullDR” model incorporates all available experimental data on dissociative recombination od CxHyNz+ ions thanks to the probabilistic tree technique recently developed in our group, whereas the “Hloss” model implements the H-loss pathways used by default in many models. We show that the FullDR model enhances globally the production of neutrals and ions, through the production of C2Hx fragments. These species are efficient promoters of molecular growth, notably in the higher pressure conditions of the laboratory experiment.