Cross sections for elastic electron collisions on two hydrocarbon compounds: n-butane and benzene in the intermediate-energy range

In this work, we report an experimental-cross-section determination of elastic electron collisions with two hydrocarbon species, namely n-butane and benzene, in the intermediate-energy range. More specifically, absolute differential, integral and momentum-transfer cross sections are measured and reported in the (50-1000) eV range. The measurements were performed using a crossed electron beam-molecular beam geometry. The angular distributions of the scattered electrons were converted to absolute cross sections using the relative flow technique. Integral and momentum-transfer cross sections are derived from the measured differential cross sections. Additionally, elastic cross sections are also calculated using the independent atom model at the static-exchange-polarization level of approximation. A comparison of our measured data with calculated and other experimental results available in the literature is made.