Ionizing collisions of cesium and potassium atoms with water

Abstract

Crossed beam studies of K and Cs collisions with H₂O and D₂O have been made for laboratory alkali beam energies from 10 to 200 eV. The only ionic products observed were K⁺, Cs⁺, OH⁻, and OD⁻. The positive and negative ion thresholds are equal to within ∼0.1 eV and correspond to the H(²S)+OH⁻(¹Σ) limit of H₂O⁻. The positive and negative ion energy and angular distributions are discussed including the observation of an OD⁻ ’’pickup’’ reaction.