Low energy inelastic electron scattering from carbon monoxide: II. Excitation of the b3Σ+, j3Σ+, B1Σ+, C1Σ+ and E1Π Rydberg electronic states

Abstract

In this second part of a two part paper (first part: Zawadzki et al (2020 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 53 165201)) we present differential scattering cross sections for excitation of several Rydberg electronic states of carbon monoxide by electron impact. The first part concerned the low-lying valence states of CO. In the present study cross sections are obtained experimentally using low-energy electron energy-loss spectroscopy and theoretically using the R-matrix method. Incident electron energies range from near-threshold of 12.5 eV to 20 eV while the scattering angles range from 20° to 120°. The R-matrix calculations use three distinct close-coupling models and their results are compared to available experimental and theoretical cross sections. The overall comparison leads to significantly improved description of the excitation cross sections for this target.