This proposal on "Electron Impact Cross Sections for Modelling Radiation Damage: The Water Molecule" between Dr. Russell Bonham of the University of Indiana at Bloomington and Ren-guang WANG of Chengdu University of Science and Technology is jointly sponsored by NSF and the Chinese State Educational Commission (SEDC). The investigators propose to carry out a series of measurements of the absolute cross sections for electron electron impact of cross sections of the water molecule. In addition to determining collision cross sections, the researchers propose to identify dissociation products, and determine lifetimes of dissociation products, especially OH radicals. If successful, this research would generate an improved cross section database for such reactions, which is essential for modeling radiation damage in solids and biological materials, as well as in the design of high voltage and current switching devices for use in fusion reactors, for understanding stellar and planetary atmospheres, and for modeling low temperature plasmas used in the industrial production of computer chips.
