Multiple ionization of CO due to electron impact

The absolute cross sections of all the possible dissociation channels follo wing the electron-impact multiple ionization of CO have been measured. The cross sections of the channels corresponding to the production of ion pairs are measured by coincidence techniques. Those of the channels associated w ith neutral fragments are obtained indirectly. At high excitation energies, the total cross sections of different stages of ionization show an exponen tial decrease as the ionization stage increases. The cross sections of diff erent channels reveal the internal dissociation dynamics of the dissociatio n following the multiple ionization of the molecules. The appearance potent ials corresponding to different dissociation channels are also measured, wh ich show that the ground states of triply and quadruply ionized CO are near ly Coulomb-like because the Coulomb interactions inside the molecules are s tronger. [S1050-2947(99)10302-0].