# Calculated cross sections for low energy electron collision with OH

## TL;DR

This study uses the R-matrix method to calculate low-energy electron collision cross sections with OH, providing new data on elastic, excitation, and dissociation processes relevant to plasma physics.

## Contribution

It presents the first detailed quantum mechanical calculations of electron-OH collisions, including potential energy curves and cross sections for various processes.

## Key findings

- Cross sections for elastic scattering and electronic excitation are quantified.
- Dissociative electron attachment is significant near 1.5 eV.
- Negative ion resonances influence dissociation cross sections.

## Abstract

The hydroxyl radical, OH, is an important component of many natural and technological plasmas but there is little available information on processes involving its collisions with low-energy electrons. Low-energy electron collisions with OH are studied in the framework of the R-matrix method. Potential energy curves of some of the low lying target states of doublet and quartet symmetry which go to the O(3P)+H(2S), O(1D)+H(2S) and O(1S)+H(2S) asymptotic limits are obtained for inter nuclear separations between 1 - 6 a0. Scattering calculations are performed at the OH equilibrium geometry Re = 1:8342 a0 to yield cross sections for elastic scattering, electronic excitations form the X2\Pi ground state to the three excited states of A2Sigma+, a 4Sigma, 1 2Sigma symmetry and for electron impact dissociation of OH. The positions and widths for negative ion resonances in the e{OH system are used estimate the cross section for dissociative electron attachment to OH which is found to be significant at electron energies about 1.5 eV.