Multiple elastic scattering of slow electrons: Parametric study for H2

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Abstract
The spatial pattern of energy deposition about charged particle tracks is of great interest in radiation physics. Secondary electrons with energies of tens of eV play a prominent—and sometimes dominant—role in the energy deposition. Due to the large number of elastic scatterings suffered by the secondaries, the cost of Monte Carlo solutions for the spatial patterns proves prohibitive. The method of condensed case histories facilitates a solution to the problem, but use of the method implies knowledge of the multiple elastic scattering. Since such distributions are not available in the energy regime of interest, we have obtained the distribution of slow electrons diffusing through an infinite medium of gaseous H2 by a Monte Carlo solution to the one‐energy time‐dependent Boltzmann equation. The equation is solved for five values, between 2 and 50 eV, of the energy parameter E which was used to fit the H2 differential elastic cross sections. The single scattering law in this energy regime is distinguished by a moderate forward peak and a significant backscattering component. The cumulative multiple scattering distributions for pairs of independent variables are fitted by two‐ and three‐parameter analytic functions. The generality of these distributions should make them useful for many other gases.

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