Total electron detachment cross sections for collisions of H⁻and He and F⁻with atomic and molecular targets

Absolute total electron detachment cross sections for collisions of H - and D - with He, and F - with He, Ne, Ar, CO, N 2 O 2 and CO 2 have been measured in the energy range from about 1 up to 300 eV. The results for H - (D - )+He are found to be in very good agreement with the recent theoretical calculations of Gauyacq (1980) and Taylor and Delos (1982). The thresholds for electron detachment in F - collisions are found to be approximately 7 eV for all targets except O 2 , which has a threshold of about 4 eV. For this latter case, evidence of some charge transfer producing O 2 - (or O - +O) is also observed.