Dissociative recombination measurements of NH\(^+\) using an ion storage ring

We have investigated dissociative recombination (DR) of NH\(^+\) with electrons using a merged beams configuration at the TSR heavy-ion storage ring located at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany. We present our measured absolute merged beams recombination rate coefficient for collision energies from 0 to 12 eV. From these data we have extracted a cross section which we have transformed to a plasma rate coefficient for the collisional plasma temperature range from \(T_{\rm pl} = 10\) to \(18000\) K. We show that the NH\(^+\) DR rate coefficient data in current astrochemical models are underestimated by up to a factor of \(\sim 9\). Our new data will result in predicted NH\(^+\) abundances lower than calculated by present models. This is in agreement with the sensitivity limits of all observations attempting to detect NH\(^+\) in interstellar clouds.