Electron collision cross sections for the Cl₂ molecule from electron transport coefficients

The measured electron transport coefficients (electron drift velocity, Townsend first ionization coefficient, electron attachment coefficient, and density-normalized effective ionization coefficient) in pure Cl₂ have been analyzed to derive the currently best available electron collision cross section set of the elastic and inelastic electron collision cross sections for the Cl₂ molecule using an electron swarm study and a two-term approximation of the Boltzmann equation for energy. The electron transport coefficients calculated using the derived cross sections are consistent with the experimental data over a wide range of E/N values (ratio of the electric field E to the neutral number density N). The present electron collision cross section set for the Cl₂ molecule is the best available so far for quantitative numerical modeling plasma discharges for processing procedures with materials containing Cl₂ molecules.