Electron scattering by molecules with and without vibrational excitation. VI. Elastic scattering by CO at 6-80 eV

Elastic scattering differential cross sections in relative units for electron scattering from CO have been measured in the scattering angle range 15°-85° and the impact energy range 10-80 eV. The experimental results are compared to the predictions of model polarized Born approximations using five different model interaction potentials. The model potential of Crawford and Dalgarno is in the best agreement with experiment, and agrees with experiment about as well as any local potential possibly can. Such a treatment is able to account for some of the features of the angle dependence of the differential cross sections. The largest discrepancies between theory and experiment are at 10 eV and at large scattering angles, and there are also smaller discrepancies at small scattering angles. Comparisons are also made to previous experimental studies by Ramsauer and Kollath and Arnot.