Experimental Determination of the Correlation Effects in the Total Differential Electron Cross Section. I. Ne

The relative total differential electron cross section (elastic plus inelastic scattering) for Ne was measured with an accuracy of 0.25%. The experimental data were compared with scattering factors calculated with the first Born approximation using a Hartree-Fock wave function and a configuration-interaction wave function giving 86% of the atomic electronic correlation energy. The comparison is in very good agreement with the recently published first-Born-approximation scattering factors employing this configuration-interaction wave function. The measurements prove that electron diffraction can be a useful experimental tool for studying correlation effects on the scattered intensity with an accuracy of at least 20% in atoms and molecules.