Analysis of the optical emission following electron impact on CF

Abstract

An experimental study of the visible and ultraviolet emission features following pulsed electron impact on molecules is presented. The spectra in the 200-600 nm region, for electron-impact energies of 100 eV, show a number of narrow lines superimposed on two very broad bands centred at 300 and 470 nm thought to originate from the and ion-pair emissions. The atomic lines arise from and fragments and the lifetimes of the 14 more intense fragments have been measured to be in the 10-30 ns range. Atomic and molecular electronically excited emission thresholds and relative cross sections have been studied for electron energies of up to 500 eV. Application of the Bethe-Born theory under Fano's characteristic parameters analysis shows that formation of most and species originates via optically allowed transitions.