Fragment ion-photon coincidence investigation of carbon tetrafluoride by controlled electron impact

Fragment ion-photon coincidence (FIPCO) spectra by 120 eV electron impact on carbon tetrafluoride (CF4) have been observed, in which optical emission in the 200-600 nm region has been detected. Only the CF3+ fragment has been found in the FIPCO spectra, demonstrating that the dissociative double-ionization process producing a pair of CF3+ and F+ is negligible in the correlation with the optical emission. This finding was already known from photon-impact experiments, but such a process was expected to play an important role in the ultraviolet-visible emission by electron impact on CF4. The translational energy distribution of CF3+ has also been estimated on the basis of the high-resolution FIPCO spectra and their Monte Carlo simulation. The magnitude of the mean translational energy of CF3+ has been explained together with earlier results obtained through threshold photoelectron-photoion coincidence experiments by considering the Franck-Condon region in the transition among the neutral,ground state of CF4 and its ionic A, C and D states.