Eur. Phys. J. D (2013) 67: 2
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2012-30691-1

Regular Article

Electron impact ionization cross sections of beryllium and beryllium hydrides

¹ Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
² Chemistry Department and Center for Advanced Studies in Nanotechnology and Its Applications in Chemical, Food and Agricultural Industries, Kasetsart University, 10900 Bangkok, Thailand
³ Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, FMFI UK, Mlynská dolina F1, 84248 Bratislava, Slovakia
⁴ Institute of Energy and Climate Research-Plasma Physics, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Association EURATOM-FZJ, Trilateral Euregio Cluster, 52425 Jülich, Germany
⁵ Department of Applied Physics, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Brooklyn, 11201 NY, USA

^a e-mail: michael.probst@uibk.ac.at

Received: 15 November 2012
Received in final form: 4 December 2012
Published online: 17 January 2013

Abstract

We report calculated electron impact ionization cross sections (EICSs) for beryllium (Be) and some of its hydrides from the ionization threshold to 1 keV using the Deutsch-Märk (DM) and the Binary-Encounter-Bethe (BEB) formalisms. The positions of the maxima of the DM and BEB cross sections are very close in each case while the DM cross section values at the maxima are consistently higher. Our calculations for Be are in qualitative agreement with results from earlier calculations (convergent close-coupling, R matrix, distorted-wave and plane-wave Born approximation) in the low energy region. For the various beryllium hydrides, we know of no other available data. The maximum cross section values for the various compounds range from 4.0 × 10^-16 to 9.4 × 10^-16 cm² at energies of 44 to 56 eV for the DM cross sections and 3.0 × 10^-16 to 5.4 × 10^-16 cm² at energies of 40.5 to 60 eV for the BEB cross sections.