FERM3D: A finite element R-matrix electron molecule scattering code Original Research Article

FERM3D is a three-dimensional finite element program, for the elastic scattering of a low energy electron from a general polyatomic molecule, which is converted to a potential scattering problem. The code is based on tricubic polynomials in spherical coordinates. The electron–molecule interaction is treated as a sum of three terms: electrostatic, exchange, and polarization. The electrostatic term can be extracted directly from ab initio codes (GAUSSIAN 98 in the work described here), while the exchange term is approximated using a local density functional. A local polarization potential based on density functional theory [C. Lee, W. Yang, R.G. Parr, Phys. Rev. B 37 (1988) 785] describes the long range attraction to the molecular target induced by the scattering electron. Photoionization calculations are also possible and illustrated in the present work. The generality and simplicity of the approach is important in extending electron-scattering calculations to more complex targets than it is possible with other methods.