State-resolved electron capture in low-energy Ar2+-Ar/N2 collisions

TL;DR

This study investigates state-resolved electron capture in low-energy Ar2+-Ar/N2 collisions using high-precision experiments and theoretical models, providing valuable data for atomic physics, astrophysics, and plasma physics.

Contribution

It offers new experimental data and analysis on electron capture mechanisms in Ar2+ collisions with Ar and N2 at 40 keV, supplementing existing research.

Findings

Reconstructed recoil ion momentum distributions.

Measured Q-value and scattering angle distributions.

Compared experimental results with molecular Coulombic over barrier model.

Abstract

As a fundamental process in atomic physics, charge exchange relies on quantum state-resolved data that is crucial for various fields such as astrophysics and plasma physics. However, there remains a g in the research on multi-electron target systems. This study aims to investigate the dynamic mechanisms of single/double electron capture in collisions between Ar2+ ions and Ar atoms or N2 molecules at an energy of 40 keV, thereby supplementing high-precision experimental data in this field. The experiment is conducted on the electron beam ion source (EBIS) platform at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, using the cold target recoil ion momentum spectroscopy (COLTRIMS) technique. An ion beam containing ground-state Ar2+ (3s^2 3p^(4 3) P) and metastable Ar2+ (3s^2 3p^(4 1) D,(_^1)S) is used as the projectile, colliding with a supersonic Ar/ N2 mixed gas target. Three-dimensional momentum of recoil ions is reconstructed through coincidence measurements of recoil ions and scattered ions, and the Q-value and scattering angle distribution are calculated. Theoretical comparisons are performed using the molecular Coulombic over barrier model (MCBM).