Published September 15, 1986 | Version v1
Journal article

Electron-impact dissociation of H3O+

  • 1. School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332

Description

Fragment cross sections for electron impact dissociation of H3O+ into OH+ and O+, and for dissociation of D3O+ into D2O+ have been measured in a crossed beam appartus for electron energies from threshold to 1000 eV. The cross sections for O+ and OH+ rise abruptly at threshold indicating that the mechanism for dissociation is via production of an electronically excited state of H3O+ and direct dissociation into O+ and OH+. At high energy the cross section has a falloff σproportionalln(E)/E expected in the Bethe-Born approximation. At 200 eV electron energy the cross sections for fragments are: D2O+, σ = 6.7 +- 1.8 x 10-17 cm2; OH+, σ = 3.0 +- 0.6 x 10-17 cm2; O+, σ = 7.9 +- 1.6 x 10-18 cm2. The observed threshold energies for OH+ and O+ production are 14 +- 3 and 19 +- 3 eV, respectively

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
J. Chem. Phys.
Journal Volume
85
Journal Issue
6
Series
J. Chem. Phys.
Journal Page Range
3386-3394
ISSN
0021-9606
CODEN
JCPSA