Isomer depletion via the process of nuclear excitation by inelastic electron scattering is investigated theoretically. A comprehensive study on low-energy nuclear excitations by inelastic electron scattering is performed to analyze the impact of the nuclear and ion charge, the nuclear transition energy, and the nuclear transition multipolarity on the cross section of the process. We apply the analysis to the case of isomer depletion, in which an excitation from the isomeric state to a nuclear level above the isomeric state can lead to decay to a nuclear level below the isomer itself and hence lead to the release of the energy stored in the isomer. For this purpose, the isomer depletion of ${}^{93\mathrm{m}}\mathrm{Mo}$, ${}^{152\mathrm{m}}\mathrm{Eu}$, and ${}^{178\mathrm{m}}\mathrm{Hf}$, which represent the most important scenarios of isomer depletion, are studied. Our results demonstrate the capability of the process of nuclear excitation by inelastic electron scattering for isomer depletion.

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• Coulomb excitation
• Inelastic scattering reactions
• Isomer decays
• Lepton induced nuclear reactions