Total and elastic cross sections for methyl halides by electron impact

The total (elastic + inelastic) cross sections for electron impact scattering with CH3F, CH3Cl, CH3Br and CH3I have been calculated using a spherical complex optical potential formalism in the energy range from 20 eV to 5000 eV. The present calculated cross sections show good agreement with previous measurements and theoretical values wherever available. The total elastic and ionization cross sections are also presented here and are found to compare well with existing data. There are no theoretical data available in the literature on total cross section for CH3Br and CH3I molecules and are reported for first time.