The momentum transfer cross section for low energy electrons in neon

Abstract

Drift velocities have been measured at 77K and 293K for electrons in neon in the range 1.6*10-3<E+or-N(Td)<2 (1 townsend (Td)=10-17 V cm2). It was found that the drift velocities were very sensitive to the presence of traces of molecular gases, especially N2. Results of high accuracy required very high purity neon and, in particular, a knowledge of the N2 impurity levels to better than 1 ppm. These data were used to determine the momentum transfer cross section for electrons in neon in the energy range 0.04<or= epsilon (eV)<or=6.0 Error limits of +or-1% are claimed for the drift velocity and +or-3% for the cross section.