Elastic and inelastic cross sections for electron-Hg scattering from Hg transport data

Elastic- and inelastic-scattering cross sections for low-energy electrons in Hg have been obtained through comparison of experimental and calculated transport data. Electron-electron interactions and superelastic collisions are incorporated into the numerical solution for the electron-energy distribution. The electron-electron interactions are shown to have a pronounced effect upon computed drift velocity and characteristic energies at low E/N, while superelastic collisions principally alter the cascade ionization rate. Details of the present method for solving the dc Boltzmann equation, including the above process, are discussed.