ELECTRON DETACHMENT FROM NEGATIVE OXYGEN IONS AT BEAM ENERGIES IN RANGE 3EV TO 100-EV

Cross sections for the detachment of electrons from negative oxygen ions (O- and O2-), in oxygen and other target gases have been obtained for incident ion energies in the range 3 to 100 eV. A single-collision beam technique was employed, and a new method devised for the separation of detached electrons from other charged collision products. The results are compared with the data of other workers where available and show good agreement. Evidence for associative detaching reactions involving O - in CO and H2 was also looked for and the results suggest an upper limit for these cross sections of the order of 10-17 cm2 at an incident ion energy of 5 ev.