Search for interference effects in electron impact ionization of aligned hydrogen molecules

Five-fold differential cross sections (5DCS) for electron impact ionization of a diatomic molecule have been explored experimentally as a function of molecular alignment. Using H 2 as a test system we exploited dissociative ionization by 200 eV electrons to obtain the alignment of the internuclear axis. Separation of groundstate ionization from autoionization is discussed. 5DCS are investigated for the direct channel and found to be in good agreement with M3DW calculations discarding at the same time a simple two-centre interference model discussed recently in literature.