A study of electron scattering from benzene: excitation of the 1B1u, 3E2g, and 1E1u electronic states.

We report results from measurements for differential and integral cross sections of the unresolved (1)B(1u) and (3)E(2g) electronic states and the (1)E(1u) electronic state in benzene. The energy range of this work was 10-200 eV, while the angular range of the differential cross sections was ∼3°-130°. To the best of our knowledge there are no other corresponding theoretical or experimental data against which we can compare the present results. A generalized oscillator strength analysis was applied to our 100 and 200 eV differential cross section data, for both the (1)B(1u) and (1)E(1u) states, with optical oscillator strengths being derived in each case. The respective optical oscillator strengths were found to be consistent with many, but not all, of the earlier theoretical and experimental determinations. Finally, we present theoretical integral cross sections for both the (1)B(1u) and (1)E(1u) electronic states, as calculated within the BEf-scaling formalism, and compare them against relevant results from our measurements. From that comparison, an integral cross section for the optically forbidden (3)E(2g) state is also derived.