Electron impact triple differential cross sections of Xe atoms for coplanar to perpendicular plane single ionisation at 60 eV, 80 eV and 100 eV above ionisation

Abstract

The evolution of the triple differential cross section (TDCS) for the electron impact ionisation of xenon atoms is reported for the variation of momentum of the projectile electron from a coplanar geometry to a perpendicular plane through intermediate angles with the detection plane. The TDCSs have been calculated for the Xe atoms at 60 eV, 80 eV and 100 eV above the ionisation potential. We have calculated the TDCS using distorted wave Born approximation, utilising both the first and second Born terms. Effects of target polarisation and post-collision interaction have also been included in the complete description of the collision dynamics. The TDCS results are compared with recent measurements by Patel et al (2022 Phys. Rev. A 105 032818) showing a dependence between the TDCS and the scattering geometry and kinematics of the collision. Second-order effects have been found significant, particularly in the description of perpendicular plane ionisation at a low energy and the effect of target polarisation has been found important in describing the coplanar ionisation of the xenon target. With an overall good agreement with the recent measurements, there are points of disagreement which are the motivation for further theoretical effort in the near future, as the present attempt is the first of its kind to analyse these measurements.