Electronic excitation of methanol by low-energy electrons

Differential and integral excitation cross section measurements for the 4 lowest-lying states of states for methanol will be presented, at electron energies between 9 -- 20eV. The data were obtained via electron-energy loss spectroscopy, incorporating a moveable aperture gas source, and applying a least squares data fitting routine to each spectra that separated overlapping contributions from discrete transitions. The results are compared with current theoretical calculations, as well as previously obtained data for water and preliminary results for excitation of ethanol.