Cross-sections and transport properties of F− ions in Ar, Kr and Xe

The aim of the current work is to determine with relatively high accuracy the elastic momentum-transfer cross-sections of F− ions in collisions with noble gases Ar, Kr and Xe. We have applied a simple form of momentum-transfer theory (MTT) based on elastic collisions as the first step in order to develop negative fluorine ion/Ar, Kr, Xe elastic momentum-transfer cross-sections based on the available data for reduced mobilities at 300 K as a function of E/N. In our procedure MTT is used only as the initial step to make adjustments and thus save a lot of computation time. However, our final results have been all obtained by exact Monte Carlo (MC) technique that has been well tested and documented. The unfolded cross-sections were validated or further improved by assuring a good agreement between our MC calculated transport data and the available experimental results for reduced mobility and longitudinal diffusion in the range from 1 Td to 500 Td. We have also calculated the net rates of elastic scattering and detachment.