Dissociative electron attachment and electron-impact resonant dissociation of vibrationally excited O2 molecules

Abstract

State-by-state cross sections for dissociative electron attachment and electron-impact dissociation for molecular oxygen are computed using ab initio resonance curves calculated with the R-matrix method. When O2 is in its vibrational ground state, the main contribution for both processes comes from the $^2\Pi_u$ resonance state of $O_2^-$ but with a significant contribution from the $^4\Sigma$ resonant state. Vibrational excitation leads to an increased contribution from the low-lying $^2\Pi_{g}$ resonance, greatly increased cross sections for both processes, and the threshold moving to lower energies. These results provide important input for models of O2-containing plasmas in nonequilibrium conditions.