Аннотация:The formation kinetics of singlet oxygen molecules in a decomposing oxygen-nitrogen plasma was investigated experimentally. The oxygen-nitrogen medium was excited by HF discharges at pressures of 10 and 20 tor; the partial oxygen content varied from 2.5 to 100 percent; the concentration of singlet oxygen was determined from spontaneous emission at a wavelength of 1268 nm. It is found that there exists an efficient mechanism for the transfer of the vibrational energy of nitrogen molecules to the metastable level of singlet oxygen molecules. This mechanism, however, is not realized in pair interactions between vibrationally excited nitrogen and oxygen molecules but involves strong intermediate excitation of the vibrational modes of ozone.