Differential ionization cross sections of ethanol by electron impact: Experiment and theoretical analysis

Doubly differential ionization cross sections (DDCSs) of ethanol were measured for incident electron energies ranging from 60 eV to 1 keV, over an angular range of <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <a:msup> <a:mn>30</a:mn> <a:mo>∘</a:mo> </a:msup> </a:math> – <b:math xmlns:b="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <b:msup> <b:mn>135</b:mn> <b:mo>∘</b:mo> </b:msup> </b:math> . The energies of the secondary electrons spanned from 4 eV up to approximately half of the primary electron energy. The experimental results were compared with calculations based on the distorted-wave Born approximation, including postcollision interaction between the two outgoing electrons. Overall, the experimental and theoretical data show reasonably good agreement within the experimental uncertainties. Singly differential ionization cross sections (SDCSs) were derived by integrating the DDCSs over the emission angles. These SDCSs are well reproduced by the generalized binary-encounter Bethe (GBEB) model. Total ionization cross sections (TICSs), obtained by integrating the SDCSs over the secondary electron energy, also show good agreement with the predictions of the GBEB model.