Role of electron-molecule angular scattering in shaping the electron-velocity distribution.

Abstract

Five models has been studied to elucidate the role of electron-molecule angular scattering in shaping the velocity distribution for electrons in nitrogen at E/N values of 300 and 1500 Td. The angular dependence of the differential scattering cross sections for elastic and inelastic collisions has been observed to have significant effects on the shape of the velocity distribution, the rate coefficients, and the transport parameters. The velocity distribution is most sensitive to the angular dependence of elastic scattering. Moreover, for a given elastic differential scattering cross section, variations in the angular dependence of inelastic scattering cause significant changes in the distribution. The magnitude of these changes depends on the relative action of the inelastic collisions with respect to the elastic collisions for a given energy interval, i.e., whether the scattering by the inelastic collisions is isotropic, forward, or backward in a given energy interval.