Total cross sections for scattering of electrons from O 2 , H 2 O, H 2 , O 3 , CO and CO 2 at 100–2000eV

Abstract

A complex optical model potential rewritten by the concept of bonded atom, which considers the overlap of electron clouds, is employed to calculate the total cross sections for electron scattering from several simple molecules (O2, H2O, H2, O3, CO and CO2) consisting of C, H and O atoms in an incident energy range of 100–2000eV by the use of the additivity rule at Hartree–Fock level. In the study, the complex optical potential composed of static, exchange, correlation polarization plus absorption contributions firstly uses the bonded-atom concept. The quantitative molecular total cross section results are compared with experimental data and with the other calculations wherever available and good agreement is obtained. It is shown that the additivity rule along with the complex optical model potential rewritten by the concept of bonded atom can be used successfully to calculate the total cross section of electron–molecule scattering above 100eV, whereas the rule together with the complex optical model potential not rewritten by the concept of bonded atom is only successfully used above 300–500eV. So, the introduction of the bonded-atom concept in the complex optical potential can improve the accuracy of the total cross section calculations.