Electron impact ionization of metastable rare gases: He, Ne and Ar

Cross sections for ionization of atoms by electron impact are important quantities for modeling of low temperature plasmas and gas discharges. Although experimental and theoretical studies of ionization of atoms from their ground levels have been extensive, much less information is available about the larger cross sections for ionization from excited levels. We use the Binary–Encounter–Bethe (BEB) method of Kim and Rudd to calculate ionization cross sections from the 1s2s 3S level of He, the 2p53s 3P levels of Ne, and the 3p54s 3P levels of Ar. We compare our results with the few available experimental results and with results from other theoretical methods.