Total, elastic, and inelastic cross sections for positron and electron collisions with tetrahydrofuran

Abstract

We present total, elastic, and inelastic cross sections for positron and electron scattering from tetrahydrofuran (THF) in the energy range between 1 and 5000 eV. Total cross sections (TCS), positronium formation cross sections, the summed inelastic integral cross sections (ICS) for electronic excitations and direct ionization, as well as elastic differential cross sections (DCS) at selected incident energies, have been measured for positron collisions with THF. The positron beam used to carry out these experiments had an energy resolution in the range 40-100 meV (full-width at half-maximum). We also present TCS results for positron and electron scattering from THF computed within the independent atom model using the screening corrected additivity rule approach. In addition, we calculated positron-impact elastic DCS and the sum over all inelastic ICS (except rotations and vibrations). While our integral and differential positron cross sections are the first of their kind, we compare our TCS with previous literature values for this species. We also provide a comparison between positron and electron-impact cross sections, in order to uncover any differences or similarities in the scattering dynamics with these two different projectiles.