Electron-scattering cross sections for collisions with tetrahydrofuran from 50 to 5000 eV

Abstract

In this paper, we report on total electron tetrahydrofuran $({\text{C}}_{4}{\text{H}}_{8}\text{O})$ scattering cross-section measurements for energies in the range from 50 to 5000 eV with experimental errors of about 5%. In addition, integral elastic and inelastic cross sections have been calculated over a broad energy range $(1--10\text{ }000\text{ }\text{eV})$, with an optical potential method assuming a screening-corrected independent atom representation. Partial and total ionization cross sections have been also obtained by combining simultaneous electron and ion measurements with a time-of-flight analysis of the ionic induced fragmentation. Finally, an average energy distribution of secondary electrons has been derived from these measurements in order to provide data for modeling electron-induced damage in biomolecular systems.