We have studied thermostimulated luminenscence and electron emission of nitrogen films and nanoclusters containing atomic nitrogen free radicals. Thermostimulated electron emission from N 2 nanoclusters was observed for the first time. Thermostimulated luminescence spectra obtained during N 2 -He sample destruction are similar to those detected from N 2 films pre-irradiated by an electron beam. This similarity reveals common mechanisms of energy transfer and relaxation. The correlation of the luminescence intensity and the electron current in both systems points to the important role of ionic species in relaxation cascades. A sublimation of solid helium shells isolating nitrogen nanoclusters is a trigger for the initiation of thermostimulated luminescence and electron emission in these nitrogen-helium condensates. PACS: 78.60.Kn Thermoluminescence; 79.75.+g Exoelectron emission.

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The radiation effects and relaxation processes in solid N2 and N2-doped Ne matrices, preirradiated by an electron beam, have been studied in the temperature range of 5-40 and 5-15 K, respectively. The study was performed using luminescence methods: cathodoluminescence CL and developed by our group nonstationary luminescence NsL, as well as optical and current activation spectroscopy methods: spectrally resolved thermally stimulated luminescence TSL and exoelectron emission TSEE. An appreciable accumulation of N radicals, N(+), N2(+) ions, and trapped electrons is found in nitrogen-containing Ne matrices. Neutralization reactions were shown to dominate relaxation scenario in the low-temperature range, while at higher temperatures diffusion-controlled reactions of neutral species contribute. It was conceived that in α-phase of solid N2, the dimerization reaction (N2(+) + N2 → N4(+)) proceeds: "hole self-trapping". Tetranitrogen cation N4(+) manifests itself by the dissociative recombination reaction with electron: N4(+) + e(-) → N2*(a'(1)Σ(u)(-)) + N2 → N2 + N2 + hν. In line with this assumption, we observed a growth of the a'(1)Σ(u)(-) → X(1)Σ(g)(+) transition intensity with an exposure time in CL spectra and the emergence of this emission in the course of electron detrapping on sample heating in the TSL and NsL experiments.

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