M. G. P. Homem

Electron scattering by methanol and ethanol: A joint theoretical-experimental investigation

We present a joint theoretical-experimental study on electron scattering by methanol (CH(3)OH) and ethanol (C(2)H(5)OH) in a wide energy range. Experimental differential, integral and momentum-transfer cross sections for elastic electron scattering by ethanol are reported in the 100-1000 eV energy range. The experimental angular distributions of the energy-selected electrons are measured and converted to absolute cross sections using the relative flow technique. Moreover, elastic, total, and total absorption cross sections for both alcohols are calculated in the 1-500 eV energy range. A complex optical potential is used to represent the dynamics of the electron-alcohol interaction, whereas the scattering equations are solved iteratively using the Padés approximant technique. Our calculated data agree well with those obtained using the Schwinger multichannel method at energies up to 20 eV. Discrepancies at high energies indicate the importance of absorption effects, included in our calculations. In general, the comparison between our theoretical and experimental results, as well as with other experimental data available in the literature, also show good agreement. Nevertheless, the discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental total cross sections at low incident energies suggests that the experimental cross sections measured using the transmission technique for polar targets should be reviewed.

Role of adsorption effects on absolute electron-molecule cross-section calibration using the relative flow technique

In this work, we report an experimental investigation on relative flow-rate determination for vapors. The mechanism of adsorption-desorption of vapors on surfaces is considered. In contrast to previous investigations, our study shows that the adsorption of vapors on surfaces may significantly affect the flow-rate determination and consequently the measured cross sections. Particularly, for water, it can result in an overestimation of 35% in the cross sections.

Cross sections for elastic electron scattering by tetramethylsilane in the intermediate-energy range

Organosilicon compounds are of current interest due to the numerous applications of these species in industries. Some of these applications require the knowledge of electron collision cross sections, which are scarce for such compounds. In this work, we report absolute values of differential, integral, and momentum-transfer cross sections for elastic electron scattering by tetramethylsilane (TMS) measured in the 100-1000 eV energy range. The relative-flow technique is used to normalize our data. In addition, the independent-atom-model (IAM) and the additivity rule (AR), widely used to model electron collisions with light hydrocarbons, are also applied for e{sup -}-TMS interaction. The comparison of our measured results of cross sections and the calculated data shows good agreement, particularly near the higher-end of incident energies.

Absorption effects in electron–sulfur-dioxide collisions

A joint experimental-theoretical study on electron-SO{sub 2} collisions in the low and intermediate energy range is reported. More specifically, experimental elastic differential, integral, and momentum transfer cross sections in absolute scale are measured in the 100-1000 eV energy range using the relative-flow technique. Calculated elastic differential, integral, and momentum transfer cross sections as well as grand-total and total absorption cross sections are also presented in the 1-1000 eV energy range. A complex optical potential is used to represent the electron-molecule interaction dynamics, whereas the Schwinger variational iterative method combined with the distorted-wave approximation is used to solve the scattering equations. Comparison of the present results is made with the theoretical and experimental results available in the literature.