Electron capture by swift ions from molecules of biological interest

Abstract

Electron capture from molecular targets impacted by swift ions, H+, He2+, Li3+ and C6+, is investigated in the framework of the quantum-mechanical continuum distorted wave-Eikonal initial state model. Biological molecules considered are nitrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water. In particular, for water, the calculation of the corresponding cross sections plays a fundamental role for the determination of energy deposition in biological matter. A detailed analysis on the contributions coming from different molecular orbitals to total cross sections (TCS) are discriminated as well as those of capture to fundamental and excited projectile states. A good agreement with measurements is found for cases where experimental data exist. For other systems, the theoretical results here reported are useful for the prediction of the corresponding TCS.