Strong molecular alignment dependence of H2 electron impact ionization dynamics

Low-energy (E(0) = 54 eV) electron impact single ionization of molecular hydrogen (H(2)) has been investigated as a function of molecular alignment in order to benchmark recent theoretical predictions [Colgan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 233201 (2008) and Al-Hagan et al., Nature Phys. 5, 59 (2009)]. In contrast to any previous work, we observe distinct alignment dependence of the (e,2e) cross sections in the perpendicular plane in good overall agreement with results from time-dependent close-coupling calculations. The cross section behavior can be consistently explained by a rescattering of the ejected electron in the molecular potential resulting in an effective focusing along the molecular axis.