Recombination of D3+ ions in the afterglow of a He-Ar- D2 plasma.

We report measurements of the rate coefficient alpha for recombination of D3+ with electrons in a He-Ar-D2 plasma. The observed rate coefficient is dependent on the deuterium number density indicating that third-body assisted recombination is efficient and significantly contributes to recombination. When the deuterium number density is decreased to 7x10(10) cm(-3), the rate coefficient also decreases to alpha approximately 6x10(-9) cm3 x s(-1). These data indicate that the binary dissociative recombination of D3+ is very slow with alphaDR<6x10(-9) cm3 x s(-1). The observation of a deionization process proceeding via formation of D5+ is also reported.