Total (including ionization) cross sections of electron impact on ground state and metastable Ne atoms

Calculations on total (complete) cross sections QT, including ionization cr oss sections for the impact of electrons on neon atoms in the ground state as well as the metastable excited states are presented. At impact energy fr om threshold to about 1000 eV, we construct a complex potential to calculat e various cross sections. Our total inelastic cross sections are used to de rive total ionization cross sections Q(ion), as done in our recent work on other atomic-molecular targets. The present results on total (complete) cro ss sections QT show a good accord with experimental data for the ground sta te neon. For the metastable Ne* our results are in good agreement with the total ionization measurements of Johnston et al (J. Phys. B 29 (1996) 531) from threshold to peak, but the present and the previous theories tend to l ie above these measurements, at higher energies. All the results are interp reted in terms of various properties of both the target atoms. (C) 2001 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.