Comparisons and fits of electron angular distribution approximations for elastic scattering from neutral fusion-relevant targets

Accurate elastic differential cross sections are essential for modeling many plasma scenarios, particularly in low temperature plasma technologies or the cooler edge regions of tokamaks. Currently, few models have reported the ability to accurately predict elastic electron scattering from neutral targets at low energies. We tested several models presented in low temperature plasmas literature and developed new expressions, based on CCC calculations, that successfully predicts both (high-energy) forward scattering and (low-energy) backward scattering for He, H, and H₂. It is shown that the proposed approximations reliably predict elastic scattering dynamics, while also offering a straightforward analytic expression that can be implemented efficiently in particle-in-cell (PIC) / Monte Carlo (MC) modeling.