Electron scattering from hexafluoroacetone molecules: cross section measurements and calculations

Absolute total cross section (TCS) for electron scattering from hexafluoroacetone (HFA: (CF3)2CO) molecules has been measured from 1 to 400 eV, employing a linear electron-transmission technique. The TCS energy function for the electron–HFA collision has two broad enhancements: the first, visible between 2 and 28 eV, can be partly attributed to resonant processes; the second is much broader, centred around 50 eV, and is characteristic of perfluorinated targets. The low-energy enhancement is superimposed with weak features perceptible near 3.6, 8.5 and 17 eV. Calculations were carried out for HFA and for acetone to obtain the integral elastic and ionization cross sections at intermediate and high incident energies, using the independent atom approximation and binary-encounter-Bethe approach, respectively. The computed total (elastic plus ionization) cross sections are above 70 eV in reasonable agreement with the experimental TCSs. A comparison is made between cross sections for HFA and its per-hydrogenated counterpart, acetone ((CH3)2CO); the effect of perfluorination is indicated. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)