Electron impact partial ionization cross section and thermal rate coefficients of gaseous refrigerants

TL;DR

This study calculates electron impact ionization cross sections and thermal rate coefficients for various gaseous refrigerants using the binary encounter Bethe model, providing data relevant for plasma applications and high-energy physics detectors.

Contribution

It presents new calculations of ionization cross sections and rate coefficients for important refrigerants using advanced models, filling gaps in existing data.

Findings

Good agreement with existing literature data

Provides ionization data for plasma and detector applications

Enhances understanding of electron interactions with refrigerants

Abstract

We have calculated the electron impact partial and total ionization cross sections of important gaseous targets, such as Trifluoromethane (CHF$_3$), 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane $(\mathrm{C_2H_2F_4})$ or R134a, 1,1,1-Trifluoroethane $(\mathrm{C_2H_3F_3})$ or R143a, 1,1,1-Trifluoropropane $(\mathrm{C_3H_5F_3})$ or R263fb, and 3,3,3-Trifluoropropene $(\mathrm{C_3H_3F_3})$ or R1243zf using the binary encounter Bethe model and its variants. The corresponding rate coefficients are calculated for total and partial ionization cross sections using the Maxwell's velocity distribution function. Our data for partial and total ionization along with the rate coefficient showed good agreement with the existing data in the literature. The targets studied are important for plasma applications and are used in gas-based detectors at high-energy physics experiments.