Scattering of low-energy electrons by TiCl4, GeCl4, SiCl4 and CCl4: a comparison of elastic cross sections

We report results of calculations of low-energy electron scattering by TiCl 4. Our calculations employed the Schwinger multichannel method implemented with norm-conserving pseudopotentials (Bettega er al 1993 Phys. Rev. A 47 1 111) at the fixed-nuclei static-exchange approximation. We compare the elas tic integral, differential and momentum transfer cross sections of TiCl4 wi th those of CCl4, SiCl4 and GeCl4. Similarities and differences in the cros s sections for these molecules are discussed. We also discuss the role of t he inner atom and the chlorine atom in the scattering process. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first nb initio calculation on electron scatt ering by TiCl4 and GeCl4 molecules. We have also calculated the ionization cross section for these molecules using the binary-encounter Bethe model an d estimated the inelastic cross section for CCl4, SiCl4 and GeCl4, where me asured total cross sections are available.