The scattering of electrons in ionizing collisions with gas atoms

Abstract

When electrons lose energy by colliding with gas atoms, they may do so either in definite amounts by exciting the atom to a discrete level, or by ionizing the atom, in which case the electrons may lose any amount of their energy over and above the minimum required for ionization. The first process has now been studied in several aspects by a number of investigators ; in particular, the authors have dealt with the angular distribution of the scattered electrons. The study of ionizing collisions, however, has so far been confined largely to the measurements of collision cross-sections, while only slight attention has been paid to the angular distribution and the energy distribution of the scattered electrons. The most valuable information concerning the collision process is to be derived from a detailed study of the angular distribution of the scattered electrons, and such an investigation is described in the present paper.