Collisions of slow electrons with thymine molecules

Using a hypocycloidal electron spectrometer, the total scattering cross section of slow (0–9 eV) electrons and the dissociative electron attachment cross section for thymine molecules in the gas phase were measured. The ionization cross section for a thymine molecule was studied in the energy range of 9–32 eV. Some features were found in the scattering cross section, caused by the formation and decay of short-lived states of the molecular negative ion. Three of them ($E$ = 0.32, 1.71, and 4.03 eV) relate to shape resonances; the others, which are observed for the first time, refer to the Feshbach resonances (or core-excited resonances). In the total dissociative attachment cross section in the energy range of $E<$ 4 eV, a clear structure is observed due to the formation of a negative ion $(T-H)^-$, and a less intense structure associated with the total contribution of fragment thymine ions is found above 4 eV. The correlation of the features found in the total scattering cross section and in the dissociative attachment cross section is assessed. The absolute total scattering cross section was obtained by normalizing the measured curve to the theoretical calculation. In the total ionization cross section, features are observed that are associated both with the effect of the formation of fr-agment ions and with ionization due to the ejection of electrons from the orbitals of the outer shell of the molecule.