We present experimental differential cross sections for the elastic scattering of electrons from CF3H and CF3I for scattering angles from 10° or 20° up to 180° at incident electron energies of 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 eV. We also estimate integral and momentum transfer cross sections with the present measurement of differential cross sections as well as with our previous (Varella et al 2002 Phys. Rev. A 65 022702 for CF3H; Kitajima et al 2002 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 35 3257 for CF3I) differential cross section sets for both molecules. The agreement with the previous results is generally good with a few exceptions.

Absolute electron-impact cross sections for molecular targets, including their radicals, are important in developing plasma reactors and testing various plasma processing gases. Low-energy electron collision data for these gases are sparse and only the limited cross section data are available. In this report, elastic cross sections for electron-polyatomic molecule collisions are compiled and reviewed for 17molecules relevant to plasma processing. Elastic cross sections are essential for the absolute scale conversion of inelastic cross sections, as well as for testing computational methods. Data are collected and reviewed for elastic differential, integral, and momentum transfer cross sections and, for each molecule, the recommended values of the cross section are presented. The literature has been surveyed through early 2010.