Elastic cross sections for electron scattering from GeF₄: Predominance of atomic-F in the high-energy collision dynamics

We report absolute differential cross sections (DCSs) for elastic electron scattering from GeF₄. The incident electron energy range was 3–200 eV, while the scattered electron angular range was typically 15°–150°. In addition, corresponding independent atom model (IAM) calculations, within the screened additivity rule (SCAR) formulation, were also performed. Those results, particularly for electron energies above about 10 eV, were found to be in good quantitative agreement with the present experimental data. Furthermore, we compare our GeF₄ elastic DCSs to similar data for scattering from CF₄ and SiF₄. All these three species possess T_d symmetry, and at each specific energy considered above about 50 eV their DCSs are observed to be almost identical. These indistinguishable features suggest that high-energy elastic scattering from these targets is virtually dominated by the atomic-F species of the molecules. Finally, estimates for the measured GeF₄ elastic integral cross sections are derived and compared to our IAM-SCAR computations and with independent total cross section values.