It is a gas at room temperature, and was first identified in 1952 as the thermal decomposition product of the fluorine azide (FN3).

These isomers can interconvert, but the process is slow enough at low temperature that the two can separated by low-temperature fractionation.

[clarification needed] The trans isomer is less thermodynamically stable[2] but can be stored in glass vessels.

The cis isomer attacks glass over a time scale of about 2 weeks to form silicon tetrafluoride and nitrous oxide:[3][page needed] Most preparations of dinitrogen difluoride give mixtures of the two isomers, but they can be prepared independently.

Analogous reaction of cis-difluorodiazene with arsenic pentafluoride gives white solid salt with the formula [N≡N−F]+[AsF6]−[6] (fluorodiazonium hexafluoroarsenate(V)).