Differential and Integral Cross Sections for Electron Impact Excitation of Lithium

The differential and integral cross sections for electron impact excitation of lithium from the ground state 1s22s to excited states 1s22p, 1s23l (l = s,p,d) and 1s24l (l = s,p,d,f) at incident energies ranging from 5 eV to 25 eV are calculated by using a full relativistic distorted wave method. The target state wavefunctions are calculated by using the Grasp92 code. The continuum orbitals are computed in the distorted-wave approximation, in which the direct and exchange potentials among all the electrons are included. A part of the cross sections are compared with the available experimental data and with the previous theoretical values. It is found that, for the integral cross sections, the present calculations are in good agreement with the time-independent distorted wave method calculation, for differential cross sections, our results agree with the experimental data very well.