Fragmentation of isoxazole molecules by electron impact in the energy range 10–85 eV

Fragmentation of isoxazole molecules by electron impact excitation, that produces excited atomic and molecular fragments, has been studied using the optical excitation technique. Excited hydrogen atoms H(n), n = 4–7, have been detected by observation of the Hβ to Hε lines of the Balmer series. The diatomic CH(A2Δ) and CN(B2Σ+) fragments have been identified by their A2Δ → X2Πr and B2Σ+ → X2Σ+ emission bands, respectively. The appearance energies for the H(n = 4), CH(A2Δ) and CN(B2Σ+) have been measured to be 21.9, 14.0 and 10.6 eV, respectively. Absolute emission cross sections have been also obtained for the fragments in electron energy ranges from their respective appearance thresholds up to 85 eV. Possible fragmentation processes are discussed.