Electron scattering from CO below resonance energy

Absolute differential cross sections for elastic scattering and vibrational excitation of CO by electron impact are presented. The electron collision energy reaches from 1.5 eV down to threshold, the covered angular range lies between 5 degrees and 110 degrees . By comparing the measured angular and energy dependences with theoretical models, contributions of different interactions to the differential cross section are evaluated. For the elastic cross section, the existing value of 0.7 a 0 for the scattering length of CO is in agreement with the authors experimental results. Finally, integrated cross sections for the vibrational excitation process are found to differ substantially from electron swarm results.