Elastic scattering of twisted electrons using a distorted-wave approach

We present a distorted-wave formalism for the elastic scattering of spinless vortex electrons on realistic target atoms. We derive expressions for the elastic angular-differential cross sections within different approximations and present results for helium, neon, and argon targets. The effect of the atomic potential on the impinging vortex electron is examined by comparing the results of our distorted-wave model to those of a plane-wave Born approximation without such a distortion. Our results show that the overall magnitude of the cross section increases when the distortion by the bound-state electrons is taken into account. We also show that under certain conditions, such as high-Z targets or projectiles with low values of topological charge, significant differences in cross section shape and magnitude are observed between the distorted-wave and plane-wave Born models.