Total Cross Sections for Electron Scattering from the Isoelectronic (Z = 14) Molecules (C₂H₂, CO, HCN and N₂) at 100-5000 eV

A complex optical model potential correlated by the concept of bonded atom, which considers the overlapping effect of electron clouds between the two atoms in a molecule, is employed to calculate the total cross sections for electron scattering from the isoelectronic (Z = 14) molecules (C₂H₂, CO, HCN, and N₂) at 100-5000 eV using the additivity rule at the Hartree-Fock level. The difference between the bonded atom and the free one is that the overlapping effect of electron clouds of bonded atoms in molecules is considered. The quantitative molecular total cross section results are compared with the experimental data and with other calculations available and good agreement is obtained above 100 eV. It is shown that the additivity rule along with the complex optical model potential considering the overlapping effect of electron clouds can give results better than when uncorrelated by it. The correlating calculations are much closer to the experiments than the spherical-complex-optical-potential results in the lower energy region [Phys. Rev. A 45 (1992) 202]. Therefore, considering the overlapping effect of electron clouds in the complex optical potential could be helpful for the better accuracy of the total cross section calculations of electron scattering from molecules.