IONIZATION YIELD IN NEON DUE TO ELECTRON-IMPACT

A theoretical study of the ionization yield in neon due to electron impact has been performed. With a given set of collision cross sections, a comparison of the Fowler equation (which takes into account the discrete nature of energy loss) and the continuous-slowing-down approximation (CSDA) has been made by applying the two methods for energies from ionization threshold to 1 keV. The CSDA is found to be very poor at low energies. A hybrid model consisting of the Fowler equation for low energies and CSDA for high energies is found to be quite satisfactory throughout the energy range. The mean energy dissipated per ion pair formed (W value) is finally calculated in this model for electron energies up to 10 keV taking into account the multiple ionization and the effect of Auger electrons. The results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. © 1979.