VUV study of electron impact dissociative excitation of thymine

Dissociative excitation of thymine following electron impact was studied in the energy range up to 430 eV. Emissions in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral region below 150 nm were studied and found to be dominated by the hydrogen Lyman series. Emission cross section data reveal that Lyman- α excitation displays a broad maximum at an electron impact energy of 160 eV. The probability of extracting other excited atoms from the parent molecule is found to be insignificant. Possible excitation and dissociation mechanisms in the parent molecule are discussed. (paper)