INFLUENCE OF THE PARENT CATION ON THE THERMALIZATION OF SUBEXCITATION ELECTRONS IN SOLID WATER

We report the results of our Monte Carlo simulations of the thermalization, recombination, and dissociative attachment of subexcitation electrons in solid water. A particular emphasis is placed on the description of the electron's motion in the Coulomb field of its parent cation (H2O+) and on the effect of this positive charge on the fate of the electron. In comparing the results obtained with and without the parent cation, we find, on the one hand, that the dissociative attachment probability and the electron thermalization distances and times remain practically unaffected by the presence of H2O+. On the other hand, we find that a certain proportion of subexcitation electrons can be captured, before they thermalize, by a process of dissociative recombination which yields various species such as O, H, OH, and H2. The variation of this proportion and of the average thermalization distances and times with the energy of the subexcitation electrons is investigated. © 1990 American Chemical Society.