Polarization in Low-Energy Electron Scattering: Carbon and Nitrogen

The polarized-orbital method has been applied to low-energy scattering of electrons from atomic carbon and nitrogen. Cross sections for the elastic scattering of electrons by C and N are given for energies up to 5.5 and 10 eV, respectively. The shape of the cross sections for nitrogen is in good agreement with the shape obtained by experiment. The photodetachment cross sections for ${\mathrm{C}}^{-}$ and ${\mathrm{N}}^{-}$ are given for ejected electron energies ${\mathrm{C}}^{-}$ are found to be in good agreement with experiment when polarization terms are included and the dipole velocity approximation is used. For ${\mathrm{N}}^{-}$, photodetachment cross sections are given for electron affinity values of 0.05 and 0.15 eV.