Fast-electron impact ionization of molecular hydrogen: energy and angular distribution of double and single differential cross sections and Young-type interference

Abstract

We report the energy and angular distribution of absolute double differential cross sections (DDCSs) of ejected electrons in collisions of 8 keV projectile electrons with molecular hydrogen. The ejected electrons with energy between 1 eV and 400 eV and ejection angles between 30° and 150° are detected. The measured data are compared with the theoretical calculations based on two-effective centre (TEC) model. The first-order interference is derived from the energy distribution of DDCS and the resulting ratio spectra (H2 to 2H) exhibit oscillating behaviour. The signature of first-order interference is also demonstrated in the DDCS spectra as a function of the ejection angle. We have shown that the constructive interference prevails in soft- and binary-collision regions. The single differential cross sections (SDCS) are deduced by integrating the DDCS over the solid angle as well as ejection energy. We demonstrate that the SDCS and corresponding ratio spectra also preserve the signature of interference.