Cross sections for electron scattering from furan molecules: Measurements and calculations

Electron-scattering cross sections have been determined for the furan (C₄H₄O) molecule, both experimentally and theoretically. An absolute total cross section (TCS) has been measured over energies from 0.6 to 400 eV using a linear electron-transmission method. The TCS energy function is dominated with a very broad enhancement, between 1.2 and 9 eV; on the low-energy side, some resonant structures are visible. Integral elastic (ECS) and ionization (ICS) cross sections have been also calculated up to 4 keV in the additivity rule approximation and the binary-encounter-Bethe approach, respectively. Their sum, ECS$+$ICS, is in a very good agreement with the measured TCS above 70 eV.