Absolute cross sections have been measured for reactants typically found in carbon tetrafluoride $\left({\mathrm{CF}}_4\right)$ discharges for collision energies below a few hundred electron volts. The reactions investigated include collision-induced dissociation and dissociative electron transfer reactions for ${\mathrm{CF}}_3^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{F}}^{+}$ colliding with ${\mathrm{CF}}_4,$ and collisional electron detachment for ${\mathrm{F}}^{-}$ colliding with ${\mathrm{CF}}_4.$ Also presented are measurements of energies and relative intensities of ions generated in dc Townsend ${\mathrm{CF}}_4$ discharges with $E/N$ values ranging from $4\times {10}^{-18}\hspace{0.5em}{\mathrm{V}\mathrm{}\mathrm{m}}^2$ to $25\times {10}^{-18}\hspace{0.5em}{\mathrm{V}\mathrm{}\mathrm{m}}^2$ [4 to 25 kTd]. Ion energy and ion intensity data for the Townsend discharges are analyzed in light of the measured cross sections.

• Received 11 March 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.60.7449