Low Energy Electron-Molecule Collision Cross Sections

Abstract

Recent progress in the measurement of absolute collision cross sections for electron molecule scattering is discussed in the context of measurements which have relevance to atmospheric phenomena and technological applications. Cross sections for low energy (< 5 eV) scattering from NO highlight the role of resonant processes in the excitation of this important atmospheric gas, while for both C2F4 and C4F8, which are used in plasma processing of semiconductors, we present a range of experimental data. In each case we make comparison of the measured cross sections with results derived from the analysis of transport data from electron swarm experiments.