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Figure 8
Diagram illustrating how intermediate-energy free electrons can be more damaging on sufficiently short timescales. Three free electrons, represented as dots, are shown initially with low (green), intermediate (red) and high (blue) energies incident on a gas of bound electrons; binding energy B. The horizontal lines represent the mean time between electron-impact ionization (EII) events, which is smaller for lower energy free electrons. Each branching event represents the most likely EII process: an electron of energy E `only just' ionizes an atom, leaving one electron at zero energy and another at E − B. Because the EII cross-section (σEII, indicated by the yellow trace) is lower for faster free electrons, there exists a window of time where, on average, the intermediate-energy electron cascade will have ionized more atoms than the high- and low-energy cascades.

Journal logoJOURNAL OF
SYNCHROTRON
RADIATION
ISSN: 1600-5775
Volume 32| Part 5| September 2025| Pages 1124-1142
https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600577525005934
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