Cross sections for charge-changing processes involving kilo-electron-volt H and H⁺ with CO and CO₂

B. G. Lindsay, W. S. Yu, and R. F. Stebbings

Phys. Rev. A 71 032705 (2005)

Absolute differential cross sections are reported for electron capture and loss by 1-5 keV H atoms incident on CO and CO₂ for laboratory scattering angles up to 1.73°, and for charge transfer of 1-5 keV H⁺ with CO and CO₂ for scattering angles up to 2.51°. To our knowledge, the H-atom differential electron capture and loss cross sections presented here are the first of their kind for CO and CO₂. The differential electron-loss cross sections are very similar to one another, and to previous measurements with other molecular targets, suggesting that some aspects of these collisions may be amenable to a relatively basic theoretical model. The differential measurements reported here significantly advance our knowledge of these collision processes and very good agreement is observed between the corresponding integral cross sections and prior work.