| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1891260 | Radiation Physics and Chemistry | 2014 | 7 Pages |
•Dynamical calculations of electrons in water were performed.•Effect of Coulomb interaction between charged particles was investigated.•About 20% of the ionized electrons were returned to the ions within 100 fs.
To explain the electron energy relaxation process in water, we performed dynamical calculations of electrons in water using a simulation code developed in this study to calculate mean diffusion distances and mean energies of incident and secondary electrons released by the impact of the incident electron, as well as spatial probability-distribution of the secondary electrons. In addition to the following molecular processes of water: ionization: electronic, vibrational, and rotational excitation by electron impact; dissociative electron attachment; and elastic electron scattering, which were basic parameters used by Monte Carlo simulation, we newly took into account Coulomb interactions between electrons and positively ionized water molecules to calculate classical electron trajectories. We found that the Coulomb interactions enhance the number of collisions for the vibrational and rotational excitation processes at the incident 500 eV electron energy. The secondary electrons diffuse to an average of 3 nm from their original position, resulting much different spatial probability-distribution of those electrons in comparison to those previously reported. We also found that approximately 20% of the secondary electrons were returned to the parent ions within 100 fs. By the electron re-capturing to either bonding or antibionding orbital, the molecules might be converted to some electronic excitation states. We suggest that the spatial probability-distribution of electrons, taken into account the re-capturing process, should be essential for detailed analysis of following chemical process arising in nanometer scales, such as biomolecular damage caused by radiation.
