Intermediate-energy total cross sections for electron scattering on GeH4

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Abstract
Absolute total cross sections for electron scattering on GeH4 molecules have been measured between 75 and 4000 eV. The dependence of the total cross section on energy is revealed to be different than for the lighter hydrides, CH4 and SiH4. It has been noticed that in the high energy limit the total cross sections for hydrides tend to the values of the corresponding isoelectronic noble gases. Self-consistency between different experimental partial cross sections and the absolute total cross section is checked for CH4, SiH4 and GeH4. Upper limits for dissociation into neutral fragments are set for these gases. By comparison of the partial cross sections selected in this way, a conclusion on different partitioning schemes for noble gases and noble-like molecules (CH4, SiH4, GeH4) is drawn. At intermediate energies the inelastic processes dominate the electron scattering on molecules. At 100 eV the elastic cross sections are almost equal for the pairs CH4-Ne, SiH4-Ar, GeH4-Kr.