Measurement of absolute total cross sections for the scattering of electrons by He, H2, CH4 and CCl/sub n/F/sub m/

Absolute total electron scattering sections (elastic plus inelastic, integrated over all angles) were measured for helium, molecular hydrogen, methane, tetrachloromethane, trichlorofluoromethane, dichlorodifluoromethane, chlorotrifluoromethane and tetrafluoromethane for incident electron energies from below 1 eV to 50 eV. The electron transmission spectrometer employed consisted of a broad spectrum pulsed electron source in line with a gas sample cell and electron detector. The electron energy was derived from the measured electron time of flight from the source to the detector. The total cross section was determined, using Beer's law, from the attenuation of the electron beam as it passed through a sample cell. Thorough theoretical studies have been reported for helium and the simpler molecules. For these systems, comparisons are made between the above results and reported absolute cross section measurements and calculations with careful consideration given to possible causes of the differences observed between recent measurements. For the more complicated molecules there are few reported calculations or measurements of the total cross sections. In these cases the low energy resonances associated with electron capture processes are not adequately described by available theoretical studies, so molecular orbital calculations and complementary experimental results are employed to explain the observed structure