Critical minima in elastic electron scattering by argon

Abstract

We determined experimentally two critical points in elastic electron scattering by argon where the differential cross section (DCS) attains its smallest values. The points were found to be at 68.5° ± 0.3°, 41.30 ± 0.02 eV and at 143.5° ± 0.3°, 37.30 ± 0.02 eV. Special attention was given to improve the angular resolution in order to determine the exact positions of the minima. These minima are important because they are a sensitive test of the validity of experimental procedures, and are used to verify theoretical predictions of DCS shapes and magnitudes, and of the polarization of scattered electrons. Normalized DCS were determined by measuring the angular distributions of elastically scattered electrons at incident energies of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 75, 80, 90 and 100 eV in the angular range 20°-150°. Results are compared with the available experimental and theoretical data. In addition, integral, momentum-transfer, and viscosity cross sections were determined by numerical integration of the measured DCS extrapolated to 0° and to 180°.