Production of O− from CO2 by dissociative electron attachment

Dissociative electron attachment cross-section measurements for the production of O^? from CO₂ have been performed utilizing a crossed target-beam—electron-beam collision geometry and a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The relative flow technique is employed to determine the absolute values of cross sections. The attachment energies corresponding to the five cross-section maxima are: 4.4 ± 0.1, 8.2 ± 0.1, 13.0 ± 0.2, 16.9 ± 0.2 and 19.4 ± 0.2 eV. The cross sections at these maxima are: 1.43 × 10^?19 cm², 4.48 × 10^?19 cm², 8.1 × 10^?21 cm², 8.1 × 10^?21 cm² and 1.2 × 10^?20 cm², respectively.     

Dissociation cross sections of silane and disilane by electron impact

The total dissociation cross sections for silane and disilane are reported for electron energies above their ionization thresholds up to 110 eV. The measurements are derived from a kinetic analysis of silane and disilane dissociation in a constant-flow multipole dc plasma reactor. The methane dissociation cross section was also measured and found in agreement with published data. Maxima for silane and disilane, occurring around 60 eV, are respectively (1.2±3)×10^?15 cm² and (2.6±0.6)× 10^?15 cm². Total ionization cross sections are also measured and above 50 eV the ratios of dissociative ionization to dissociation cross sections are 0.5±0.1 and 0.25±0.10 respectively for silane and disilane. The probability for silane elimination in the disilane fragmentation reaches a maximum of 0.8 at 19 eV and decreases down to 0.5 at 100 eV. Dissociation processes of silane and disilane are discussed in comparison with methane and ethane     

Dissociation of ethane by electron impact

The absolute total dissociation cross section for ethane is reported for electron energies between 10 and 600 eV. A maximum value of 7.6 × 10^?16 cm² occurs at 80 eV while the apparent threshold is ≈ 10 eV. Dissociative ionization is more probable than dissociation into neutral fragments at all energies except in the threshold region. The data indicates that fragmentation involving methane elimination (c^? + C₂ H₆ → e^? + CH₄ + CH₂) occurs in less than 2% of the dissociative events for 50 < E < 600 eV. Arguments are presented which suggest that some of the lower excited states of ethane are stable against dissociation.     

Electron attachment to oxygen and oxygen/ozone clusters studied in a high-resolution crossed beams experiment

Highly monochromatized electrons (with 30 meV FWHM) are used in a crossed beams experiment to investigate electron attachment to oxygen clusters (O₂)_n at electron energies from approximately zero eV up to 2 eV. At energies close to zero the attachment cross section for the reaction (O₂)_n +e → O ₂ ^? varies inversely with the electron energy, indicative of s-wave electron capture to (O₂)_n. Peaks in the attachment cross section present at higher energies can be ascribed to vibrational levels of the oxygen anion. The vibrational spacings observed can be quantitatively accounted for. In addition electron attachment to mixed oxygen/ozone clusters has been studied in the energy range up to 4 eV. Despite the initially large excess of oxygen molecules in the neutral clusters the dominant attachment products are undissociated cluster ions (O₃) _m ^? including the O ₃ ^? monomer while oxygen cluster ions (O₂) _n ^? appear with comparatively low intensity.     

Resonant electron capture by orotic acid molecules

Resonant electron attachment by orotic acid molecules (6-COOH-uracil) are studied in the energy range of 0–14 eV via negative ion mass spectrometry. Molecular ions, whose lifetimes relative to electron autodetachment are found to be ~300 μs are recorded in the region of thermal electron energies; they form in the valence state through a vibration-excited resonance mechanism. Unlike unsubstituted uracil, most dissociative processes occur in the low-energy region of <4 eV and are due to carboxylic anions. An absolute cross section of 2.4 × 10^?17 cm² is found for the most intense fragment ions [M–H]^– at an output energy of 1.33 eV. The kinetics of decarboxylation is considered for these ions. This could be a model reaction for the last stage of uridine monophosphate biosynthesis.     

Vacuum-UV and Low-Energy Electron-Induced DNA Strand Breaks – Influence of the DNA Sequence and Substrate

DNA is effectively damaged by radiation, which can on the one hand lead to cancer and is on the other hand directly exploited in the treatment of tumor tissue. DNA strand breaks are already induced by photons having an energy below the ionization energy of DNA. At high photon energies, most of the DNA strand breaks are induced by low-energy secondary electrons. In the present study we quantified photon and electron induced DNA strand breaks in four different 12mer oligonucleotides. They are irradiated directly with 8.44 eV vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photons and 8.8 eV low energy electrons (LEE). By using Si instead of VUV transparent CaF₂ as a substrate the VUV exposure leads to an additional release of LEEs, which have a maximum energy of 3.6 eV and can significantly enhance strand break cross sections. Atomic force microscopy is used to visualize strand breaks on DNA origami platforms and to determine absolute values for the strand break cross sections. Upon irradiation with 8.44 eV photons all the investigated sequences show very similar strand break cross sections in the range of 1.7–2.3×10⁻¹⁶ cm². The strand break cross sections for LEE irradiation at 8.8 eV are one to two orders of magnitude larger than the ones for VUV photons, and a slight sequence dependence is observed. The sequence dependence is even more pronounced for LEEs with energies <3.6 eV. The present results help to assess DNA damage by photons and electrons close to the ionization threshold.     

1B2u1A1g fluorescence from benzene produced by electron impact (0–30 eV)

The ¹B_2u¹A_1g fluorescence of benzene resulting from the impact of low energy electrons (0–30 eV) has been studied in the pressure range 10^?4 ?2 × 10^?3 torr. It is found that the apparent emission cross section near threshold varies linearly with the pressure. A reaction scheme explaining this behaviour is given. From the absolute value of the apparent emission cross section it follows that excitation of the ³E_1u state is by far dominant over excitation of the ¹B_2u state at low electron impact energies.     

Differential cross section for CN− formation from dissociative electron attachment to the cyanogen molecule C2N2

The differential cross section for CN^? formaition from dissoiiativc attachment on C₂N₂ has been obtained in a crossed-beam experiment. Below 10 eV incident electron energy thc CN^? cross section shows two broad overlapping peaks with maxima at 5.4 and 7.3 eV corresponding to the formation of CN^? in its ground electronic state ¹σ⁺ plus the CN radical in the first excited state²π and the ground stale ²Σ+ respcctively     

Dissociative ionization of O2 and N2 by electron impact — N+ and O+ kinetic energies and angular distributions

An apparatus containing cross molecular and pulsed electron beams has been used to obtain distributions in kinetic energy and angle of fast (? 0.5 eV) positive ions produced through dissociative ionization of N₂ and O₂ by impact of 50 to 2000 eV electrons. Four main O⁺ ion groups are observed with peak energies of 0.8, 2.0, 3.0, and 5.0 eV. Two main N⁺ groups peaking at 2.0 and 3.0 eV are seen. Angular distributions of both N⁺ and O⁺ ions are essentially isotropic for electron-beam-ion detection angles from 30° to 110°.     

Double electron transfer reactions of CO22+ ions

Time-of-flight techniques have been used to measure fast neutral CO₂ products from double electron transfer reactions of CO₂²⁺ ions with 4.0–7.0 keV impact energies. Double electron transfer cross sections have been determined to be in the range of (1.1–12.5) × 10^?16 cm² for reactions of CO₂²⁺ ions with CO₂, CO, N₂, Ar and O₂.     

Dissociative electron attachment to gas-phase glycine

By using a high-resolution electron energy monochromator low-energy electron attachment to gas-phase glycine (H₂NCH₂COOH, or G) has been studied by means of mass spectrometric detection of the product anions. In the same way as for several other biologically relevant molecules no stable parent anion was formed by free electron attachment. The largest dissociative electron attachment (DEA) cross-section, approximately 5×10^–20 m², was observed for (G–H)^–+H at an electron energy of 1.25 eV. Glycine and formic acid (HCOOH) have several common features, because a precursor ion can be characterized by electron attachment to the unoccupied * orbital of the –COOH group. At higher incident electron energies several smaller fragment anions are formed. Except for H^–, which could not be observed in this study, there was good agreement with an earlier investigation by Gohlke et al.     

Resonant electron capture by uridine

Processes of the resonant electron attachment to uridine molecules have been studied in the energy range 0–14 eV. The main fragmentation channels of negative molecular ions have been determined. Long-lived negative molecular ions have been detected in the thermal energy region. It was found that these ions form in a dipole-bound state. The lifetime of molecular ions was estimated at τ_a ～ 29 × 10^?6 s.     

Formation of negative ions by electron impact on SiF4 and CF4

First measurements of cross sections for the formation of negative ions by electron attachment to SiF₄ and CF₄ are reported for an electron impact energy range of 0 to 50 eV. The energies at which the various ions appear and the positions at which the ionization efficiency curves peak have been obtained and compared with previous measurements. Thermochemical data have been used to predict and identify the various channels of dissociation. Cross sections for the production of ion pairs through the process of polar dissociation have also been measured.Visiting fellow, on leave of absence from Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos, Departamento de Quimica, 13560, Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil     

Total dissociative electron attachment cross sections of selected amino acids

Total dissociative electron attachment cross sections are presented for the amino acids, glycine, alanine, proline, phenylalanine, and tryptophan, at energies below the first ionization energy. Cross section magnitudes were determined by observation of positive ion production and normalization to ionization cross sections calculated using the binary-encounter-Bethe method. The prominent 1.2 eV feature in the cross sections of the amino acids and the closely related HCOOH molecule is widely attributed to the attachment into the -COOH pi* orbital. The authors discuss evidence that direct attachment to the lowest sigma* orbital may instead be responsible. A close correlation between the energies of the core-excited anion states of glycine, alanine, and proline and the ionization energies of the neutral molecules is found. A prominent feature in the total dissociative electron attachment cross section of these compounds is absent in previous studies using mass analysis, suggesting that the missing fragment is energetic H-.     

Total cross sections of electron collisions with S atoms; H2S,OCS and SO2 molecules (Ei ≥ 50 eV)

Collisions of intermediate to high energy electrons are considered with S-atoms as well as H₂S, OCS and SO₂ molecules as targets. We employ e^- atom total cross sections calculated in the complex optical potential, to calculate e^--molecule total cross sections in a simple and a modified Additivity Rule. Our total (elastic + inelastic) cross sections above 50 eV, fare reasonably well as compared to various experimental and theoretical data. The calculated inelastic cross sections serve as the upper limit of total ionization cross sections. Results are presented graphically from about 10 to 5000 eV.     

Energy and angular differential cross sections for K + NO2 charge transfer reactions

Doubly differential cross sections, in energy and angle, are reported for the electron transfer reaction between potassium and nitrogen dioxide in a crossed beam apparatus at relative collision energies between 2.7 and 30.8 eV. The formation of NO^?₂ in its ground ¹A₁ and excited ³B₁ state has been observed. Theoretical consideration of these processes indicates that bond bending during the collision has a stronger influence on ion-pair formation than bond stretching. At the lower collision energies most of the excess energy is converted into internal energy of NO^?₂.     

1B2u1A1g fluorescence from benzene produced by electron impact (30–1000 eV)

The ¹B_2u → ¹A_1g fluorescence resulting from electron impact (30–1000 eV) on benzene has been studied in the pressure range 10^?4 ?2 × 10^?3 torr. The fluorescence spectrum is compared with the spectrum obtained by other methods. The energy dependence of the absolute emission cross section indicates a small probability for internal conversion from higher singlet states to the ¹B_2u state.     

Cross sections for electron trapping by DNA and its component subunits I: Condensed tetrahydrofuran deposited on Kr

We report cross sections for electron capture processes occurring in condensed tetrahydrofuran (THF) for incident electron energies in the range of 0-9 eV. The charge trapping cross section for 6-9 eV electrons is very small, and an upper limit of 4 x 10(-19) cm2 is estimated from our results. This latter is thus also an upper bound for the cross section for dissociative electron attachment process that is known to occur at these energies for condensed THF. At energies close to zero eV electron trapping proceeds via intermolecular stabilization. The cross section for this process is strongly dependent on the quantity of deposited THF. Since THF may model the furyl ring found in deoxyribose, these measurements indicate that this ring likely plays little role in either initiating or enhancing strand break damage via the attachment of the low energy secondary electrons produced when DNA is exposed to ionizing radiation.     

Photodissociation of O2+(H2O)

The photodissociation cross section of the weakly bound positive ion cluster O₂⁺(H₂O) has been measured at 15 discrete energies between 1.833 and 2.727 eV. Measurements indicate the cross section increases smoothly from 0.6 to 6 × 10^-18 cm² over this energy range. These cross section values are the largest reported for a positive ion cluster of atmospheric importance.     

Absolute cross sections for electron impact ionization of Ag2

The previously measured relative cross section function for electron impact ionization (EII) of neutral Ag₂ has now been calibrated quantitatively by combining the electron impact ionization with in situ non resonant two photon ionization (NR2PI). By comparing the NR2PI saturation intensities measured for Ag ₂ ⁺ and Ag⁺ with the corresponding EII intensities, the ratio between the electron impact ionization cross sections (EIICS) of neutral Ag₂ and Ag was determined to be σ_Ag2/σ_Ag=1.53 for an electron energy of 46 eV. This result agrees well with the geometricn ^2/3-rule \((\sigma X_n \sim n^{2/3} )\) commonly proposed for the dependence of the EIICS of clustersX _n on the cluster sizen.