Absolute differential cross sections for small-angle elastic scattering in helium<i>–</i>rare-gas collisions at keV energies

Abstract

This paper reports measurements of absolute differential cross sections for elastic scattering of 0.5-, 1.5-, and 5.0-keV He atoms by Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe at laboratory scattering angles between 0.05\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and 0.5\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. Comparisons are made between the measured differential cross sections and those calculated from various model potentials. These comparisons reveal the range of validity of potentials appearing in the literature and provide new information about the lower repulsive walls of the ground-state He--rare-gas interaction potentials.