Kinematically complete study of low-energy electron-impact ionization of neon: Internormalized cross sections in three-dimensional kinematics

Low-energy (E0=65eV) electron-impact single ionization of Ne (2p) has been investigated to thoroughly test state-of-the-art theoretical approaches. The experimental data were measured using a reaction microscope, which can cover nearly the entire 4π solid angle for the secondary electron emission energies ranging from 2 to 8 eV, and projectile scattering angles ranging from 8.5 to 20.0. The experimental triple-differential cross sections are internormalized across all measured scattering angles and ejected energies. The experimental data are compared to predictions from a hybrid second-order distorted-wave Born plus R-matrix approach, the distorted-wave Born approximation with the inclusion of postcollision interaction (PCI), a three-body distorted-wave approach (3DW), and a B-spline R-matrix (BSR) with pseudostates approach. Excellent agreement is found between the experiment and predictions from the 3DW and BSR models, for both the angular dependence and the relative magnitude of the cross sections in the full three-dimensional parameter space. The importance of PCI effects is clearly visible in this low-energy electron-impact ionization process.