Universal elastic scattering cross sections for electrons in the range 1–100 keV

For high atomic numbers the total cross section for electron-atom elastic scattering calculated using the partial-wave method is found to fall into two regimes over the range 1–100 keV. The cross section in the higher energy regime scales as E−1, and in the lower energy regime as E−0.5. An empirical equation has been drawn up that describes these trends, and can give a universal expression for the cross sections over the Periodic Table to allow economical Monte Carlo simulation of electron scattering over a wide range of energies and materials.