High resolution electron attachment studies to molecules and endohedral fullerenes

Electron attachment studies are of fundamental importance to the understanding of electron-neutral interactions and the mechanisms for the negative ion formation and in addition are of proactical calue for the understanding and design of industrial gas discharge devices. In principle this free electron interaction can be investigated either (i) by swarm techniques yielding information on the reaction rate constant as a function of gas and/or electron temperature or (ii) by crossed beam experiments yielding the more basic kinetic information on the cross section as a function of electron energy. Whereas standard (true) crossed electron/neutral beam experiments usually are able to operate in the low energy regime at electron energy resolutions between 50 and 100 meV, we have been recently able to improve drastically this energy resolution using a trochoidal electron monochromator (TEM) as the primary electron beam source (i.e. down to 7 meV FWHM). Based on experience gained in these previous investigations we plan in the present project on the one hand to improve the energy resolution - if possible - down to 1 meV at electron currents still large enough to perform electron attachment studies. On the other hand the main goal of the present project is to apply this new technique to (i) a few fundamental molecular cases, such as the study of the vibrational and even rotational structure in electron interaction processes with such basic molecules as N2, CO2, SO2 and N2= to (ii) the determination of basic electron attachment properties of gases of atmospheric interest (such as CFC gases) and to (iii) the study of the anion production mechanism of the new class of molecules, i.e. the endohedral fullerenes.