https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-021-00323-0
Regular Article – Atomic and Molecular Collisions
A model potential for computing total ionization cross sections of atoms and molecules by electron impact
1
Instituto de Física “Gleb Wataghin”, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-859, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
2
Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Caixa Postal 19044, 81531-980, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
3
Departamento de Física dos Materiais e Mecânica, Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, 05315-970, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Received:
6
November
2021
Accepted:
2
December
2021
Published online:
17
December
2021
We propose a model potential for computing total ionization cross sections for atoms and molecules by electron impact. The potential is obtained by a fitting procedure using the Binary–Encounter–Bethe model cross sections as a starting point. We present total ionization cross section for hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms and for hydrogen, nitrogen, water, methane and benzene molecules. The results obtained with our model potential are compared with results obtained with the Binary–Encounter–Bethe model and with the first Born approximation, and agreement is quite good. Our results show that this potential could be used to account for the ionization channel in an electron–molecule collision calculation.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
