Resonance effects in electron-impact ionization of helium

Abstract

We have extended our recent work on electron-impact ionization and ionization-excitation of helium (Fang Y and Bartschat K 2001 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 34 L19) to investigate resonance structures in the ejected-electron-residual-ion interaction. The calculations were performed using a second-order perturbative model for a `fast' incident projectile together with a convergent R-matrix with pseudo-states close-coupling model for the initial bound state and the scattering of a `slow' ejected electron in the field of the ion. The agreement with previous calculations by Marchalant et al using a similar model is satisfactory and confirms the importance of the `two-step' mechanism in these processes. However, significant discrepancies remain with experimental data by Lower and Weigold and, to a lesser extent, by McDonald and Crowe.