Cross-sections for electron-imidogen radical (NH) collisions

In this work, we report a theoretical study on electron collisions with NH radicals in the low and intermediate energy ranges. Calculated elastic differential, integral and momentum-transfer cross-sections as well as grand-total (elastic+ inelastic) and total absorption crosssections for electron-NH collisions are reported in the (1-500)-eV range. A complex optical potential composed by static, exchange, correlation-polarization plus absorption contributions, derived from a fully molecular wave function, is used to describe the interaction dynamics. The Schwinger variational iterative method combined with the distorted-wave approximation is applied to calculate scattering amplitudes. Present calculated results are compared with the existing data for electron-NH scattering in the literature. Also, comparison made between our calculated cross-sections for elastic scattering with the theoretical and experimental results for electron-NH3 collisions has revealed remarkable similarity even at incident energies as low as 1 eV. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.