Eur. Phys. J. D 46, 289-293 (2008)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2007-00324-1

Electron impact ionization of SiCl₂ and SiCl

Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, 07030, USA

Corresponding author: ^a kbecker@poly.edu

Received: 10 August 2007
Revised: 1 October 2007
Published online: 5 December 2007

Abstract

We measured absolute partial cross sections for the formation of all singly charged positive ions produced by electron impact on SiCl₂ and SiCl from threshold to 200 eV using the fast-neutral-beam technique. Some of the cross section curves exhibit an unusual energy dependence with a pronounced low-energy maximum at an energy around 30 eV, which may be indicative of the presence of indirect ionization channels. Dissociative ionization channels are dominant for both species. The experimentally determined total single ionization cross sections for both species agree very well with calculated cross sections using the Deutsch-Märk (DM) formalism. A brief summary of the ionization cross sections determined for all four SiCl_x (x=1–4) species is given highlighting similarities and differences.