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Updated: May 16, 2026

Photoelectron Imaging of Anions Illustrated by 310 Nm Detachment of F−
Published on: July 27, 2018
Electron attachment to fluorocarbon radicals
Nicholas S Shuman1, Thomas M Miller, A A Viggiano
1Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico 87117, USA.
Abstract:
Thermal electron attachment rate constants for a series of small fluorocarbon radicals (CF(2), C(2)F(3), 1-C(3)F(7), 2-C(3)F(7), C(3)F(5), CF(3)O) were measured from 300 to 600 K using the variable electron and neutral density attachment mass spectrometry method. With the exception of CF(2), for which no attachment was observed, all species exclusively underwent dissociative attachment to yield F(-). The magnitude and temperature dependences of the rate constants varied significantly between species; however, attachment was in all cases inefficient, never exceeding 2% of the calculated collisional value. The data are interpreted and extrapolated to conditions inaccessible to the experiment using a kinetic modeling approach to the electron attachment process.
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