Transport coefficients and cross sections for electrons in water vapour: comparison of cross section sets using an improved Boltzmann equation solution

Simulating the Feasibility of Using Liquid Micro-Jets for Determining Electron–Liquid Scattering Cross-Sections

The extraction of electron–liquid phase cross-sections (surface and bulk) is proposed through the measurement of (differential) energy loss spectra for electrons scattered from a liquid micro-jet. The signature physical elements of the scattering processes on the energy loss spectra are highlighted using a Monte Carlo simulation technique, originally developed for simulating electron transport in liquids. Machine learning techniques are applied to the simulated electron energy loss spectra, to invert the data and extract the cross-sections. The extraction of the elastic cross-section for neon was determined within 9% accuracy over the energy range 1–100 eV. The extension toward the simultaneous determination of elastic and ionisation cross-sections resulted in a decrease in accuracy, now to within 18% accuracy for elastic scattering and 1% for ionisation. Additional methods are explored to enhance the accuracy of the simultaneous extraction of liquid phase cross-sections.

Evaluation of Recommended Cross Sections for the Simulation of Electron Tracks in Water

The accuracy of the most recent recommended cross sections dataset for electron scattering from gaseous H2O (J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 2021, 50, 023103) is probed in a joint experimental and computational study. Simulations of the magnetically confined electron transport through a gas cell containing H2O for different beam energies (3, 10 and 70 eV) and pressures (2.5 to 20.0 mTorr) have been performed by using a specifically designed Monte Carlo code. The simulated results have been compared with the corresponding experimental data as well as with simulations performed with Geant4DNA. The comparison made between the experiment and simulation provides insight into possible improvement of the recommended dataset.

Electron scattering from 1-butanol at intermediate impact energies: Total cross sections

We report experimental measurements of the absolute total cross sections (TCSs) for electron scattering from 1-butanol at impact energies in the range 80-400 eV. Those measurements were conducted by considering the attenuation of a collimated electron beam, at a given energy, through a gas cell containing 1-butanol, at a given pressure, and through application of the Beer-Lambert law to derive the required TCS. We also report theoretical results using the Independent-Atom Model with Screening Corrected Additivity Rule and Interference approach. Those results include the TCS, the elastic integral cross section (ICS), the ionization total ICS, and the sum over all excitation process ICSs with agreement at the TCS level between our measured and calculated results being encouraging.

Generalized balance equations for charged particle transport via localized and delocalized states: Mobility, generalized Einstein relations, and fractional transport

A generalized phase-space kinetic Boltzmann equation for highly nonequilibrium charged particle transport via localized and delocalized states is used to develop continuity, momentum, and energy balance equations, accounting explicitly for scattering, trapping and detrapping, and recombination loss processes. Analytic expressions detail the effect of these microscopic processes on mobility and diffusivity. Generalized Einstein relations (GER) are developed that enable the anisotropic nature of diffusion to be determined in terms of the measured field dependence of the mobility. Interesting phenomena such as negative differential conductivity and recombination heating and cooling are shown to arise from recombination loss processes and the localized and delocalized nature of transport. Fractional transport emerges naturally within this framework through the appropriate choice of divergent mean waiting time distributions for localized states, and fractional generalizations of the GER and mobility are presented. Signature impacts on time-of-flight current transients of recombination loss processes via both localized and delocalized states are presented.

Excitation of vibrational quanta in furfural by intermediate-energy electrons

We report cross sections for electron-impact excitation of vibrational quanta in furfural, at intermediate incident electron energies (20, 30, and 40 eV). The present differential cross sections are measured over the scattered electron angular range 10°-90°, with corresponding integral cross sections subsequently being determined. Furfural is a viable plant-derived alternative to petrochemicals, being produced via low-temperature plasma treatment of biomass. Current yields, however, need to be significantly improved, possibly through modelling, with the present cross sections being an important component of such simulations. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other cross sections for vibrational excitation of furfural available in the literature, so the present data are valuable for this important molecule.

Intermediate energy cross sections for electron-impact vibrational-excitation of pyrimidine

We report differential cross sections (DCSs) and integral cross sections (ICSs) for electron-impact vibrational-excitation of pyrimidine, at incident electron energies in the range 15-50 eV. The scattered electron angular range for the DCS measurements was 15°-90°. The measurements at the DCS-level are the first to be reported for vibrational-excitation in pyrimidine via electron impact, while for the ICS we extend the results from the only previous condensed-phase study [P. L. Levesque, M. Michaud, and L. Sanche, J. Chem. Phys. 122, 094701 (2005)], for electron energies ⩽12 eV, to higher energies. Interestingly, the trend in the magnitude of the lower energy condensed-phase ICSs is much smaller when compared to the corresponding gas phase results. As there is no evidence for the existence of any shape-resonances, in the available pyrimidine total cross sections [Baek et al., Phys. Rev. A 88, 032702 (2013); Fuss et al., ibid. 88, 042702 (2013)], between 10 and 20 eV, this mismatch in absolute magnitude between the condensed-phase and gas-phase ICSs might be indicative for collective-behaviour effects in the condensed-phase results.

Integral cross sections for electron impact excitation of vibrational and electronic states in phenol

We report on measurements of integral cross sections (ICSs) for electron impact excitation of a series of composite vibrational modes and electronic-states in phenol, where the energy range of those experiments was 15-250 eV. There are currently no other results against which we can directly compare those measured data. We also report results from our independent atom model with screened additivity rule correction computations, namely, for the inelastic ICS (all discrete electronic states and neutral dissociation) and the total ionisation ICS. In addition, for the relevant dipole-allowed excited electronic states, we also report f-scaled Born-level and energy-corrected and f-scaled Born-level (BEf-scaled) ICS. Where possible, our measured and calculated ICSs are compared against one another with the general level of accord between them being satisfactory to within the measurement uncertainties.

Intermediate energy electron impact excitation of composite vibrational modes in phenol

We report differential cross section results from an experimental investigation into the electron impact excitation of a number of the low-lying composite (unresolved) vibrational modes in phenol (C6H5OH). The measurements were carried out at incident electron energies in the range 15-40 eV and for scattered-electron angles in the range 10-90°. The energy resolution of those measurements was typically ∼80 meV. Calculations, using the GAMESS code, were also undertaken with a B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ level model chemistry, in order to enable us to assign vibrational modes to the features observed in our energy loss spectra. To the best of our knowledge, the present cross sections are the first to be reported for vibrational excitation of the C6H5OH molecule by electron impact.

Intermediate-energy differential and integral cross sections for vibrational excitation in α-tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol

Differential and integral cross section measurements, for incident electron energies in the 20-50 eV range, are reported for excitation of several composite vibrational modes in α-tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA). Optimisation and frequency calculations, using GAUSSIAN 09 at the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ level, were also undertaken for the two most abundant conformers of THFA, with results being reported for their respective mode classifications and excitation energies. Those calculations assisted us in the experimental assignments of the composite features observed in our measured energy loss spectra. There are, to the best of our knowledge, no other experimental or theoretical data currently available in the literature against which we can compare the present results.

Differential cross sections for the electron impact excitation of pyrimidine

We report on differential cross section (DCS) measurements for the electron-impact excitation of the electronic states of pyrimidine. The energy range of the present measurements was 15-50 eV with the angular range of the measurements being 10°-90°. All measured DCSs displayed forward-peaked angular distributions, consistent with the relatively large magnitudes for the dipole moment and dipole polarizability of pyrimidine. Excitations to triplet states were found to be particularly important in some energy loss features at the lower incident electron energies. To the best of our knowledge there are no other experimental data or theoretical computations against which we can compare the present results.