Hydrogen Plasmas Generated Using Certain Group I Catalysts Show Stationary Inverted Lyman Populations and Free-Free and Bound-Free Emission of Lower-Energy State Hydride

Rb+ to Rb2+ and 2K(+) to K+K2+ each provide a reaction with a net enthalpy equal to the potential energy of atomic hydrogen. The presence of these gaseous ions with thermally dissociated hydrogen formed a plasma having strong VUV emission with a stationary inverted Lyman population. Significant Balmer a line broadening of 18 and 12 eV was observed from a rt-plasma of hydrogen with KNO3 and RbNO3 respectively, compared to 3eV from a hydrogen microwave plasma. The reaction was exothermic since excess power of about 20 mW/cc was measured by Calvet calorimetry. We propose an energetic catalytic reaction involving a resonance energy transfer between hydrogen atoms and Rb+ or 2K+ to form a very stable novel hydride ion. Its predicted binding energy of 3.0468eV with the fine structure was observed at 4071 A and its predicted bound-free hyperfine structure lines E-HF = j(2)3.00213 X 10(-5) + 3.0563 eV (j is an integer) matched those observed for j = 1 to j = 37 to within a 1 part per 104. Characteristic emission from each catalyst was observed. This catalytic reaction may pump a cw HI laser.