Experimental study of single-electron loss by Ar+ ions in rare-gas atoms

Abstract

Absolute differential and total cross sections for single-electron loss were measured for Ar+ ions on rare-gas atoms in the laboratory energy range of 1.5 to 5.0 keV. The electron loss cross sections for all the targets studied are found to be in the order of magnitude between 10(-19) and 10(-22) cm(2), and show a monotonically increasing behaviour as a function of the incident energy. The behaviour of the total single-electron loss cross sections with the atomic target number, Z(t), shows different dependences as the collision energy increases. In all cases the present results display experimental evidence of saturation in the single-electron loss cross section as the atomic number of the target increases.