Collisions between electrons and H₂⁺ions. I. Measurements of cross sections for proton production

Cross sections have been measured for the production of protons by collisions between electrons and H 2 + ions for interaction energies between 18.4 and 980 eV. An ion source was specially designed to produce the H 2 + ions under clearly defined conditions. At energies greater than 250 eV the present cross sections merge with those calculated by Peek in the limit of Born's approximation. This asymptotic behaviour was not displayed by previous measurements.