Electron impact ionisation of neutral lithium

The total and single differential cross sections for the electron impact ionisation of neutral lithium in its ground (1s2 2s)2S state for impact energies from near threshold to 100 eV have been calculated in the Coulomb-Born exchange and distorted-wave exchange approximations, using the R-matrix close-coupling wavefunctions to represent the initial and final states of the target system. The single differential cross section shows the effect of the 1s2s22S, 1s(2s2p 3P)2P, 1s(2s2p 1P)2P and 1s2p22S resonances. Our calculation results indicate that these resonance contributions to the total cross sections are very small. (orig.)