This volume deals with the basic knowledge and understanding of
fundamental interactions of low energy electrons with molecules. It pro-
vides an up-to-date and comprehensive account of the fundamental in-
teractions of low-energy electrons with molecules of current interest in
modern technology, especially the semiconductor industry. The primary
electron-molecule interaction processes of elastic and in- elastic
electron scattering, electron-impact ionization, electron-impact
dissociation, and electron attachment are discussed, and state-of-the-
art authoritative data on the cross sections of these processes as well
as on rate and transport coefficients are provided. This fundamental
knowledge has been obtained by us over the last eight years through a
critical review and comprehensive assessment of "all" available data on
low-energy electron collisions with plasma processing gases which we
conducted at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Data from this work were originally published in the Journal of Physical
and Chemical Reference Data, and have been updated and expanded here.
The fundamental electron-molecule interaction processes are discussed in
Chapter 1. The cross sections and rate coefficients most often used to
describe these interactions are defined in Chapter 2, where some recent
advances in the methods employed for their measurement or calculation
are outlined. The methodology we adopted for the critical evaluation,
synthesis, and assessment of the existing data is described in Chapter
3. The critically assessed data and recommended or suggested cross
sections and rate and transport coefficients for ten plasma etching
gases are presented and discussed in Chapters 4, 5, and 6.
