Multiple ionization and charge equilibration in slow, multiply charged $\mathrm{Ar^{q+} + Ar}$ collision studied via L-MM Auger-Meitner electron spectroscopy

Abstract

We report energy and angle resolved absolute cross section measurements for LMM Auger-Meitner electron emission following collisions of hundred keV protons and $\mathrm{Ar^{3+/6+}}$ ion with an atomic Ar target. The double differential cross section spectra show distinct contributions from target and projectile Auger-Meitner decay. The projectile emission exhibits the expected Doppler shift for various angles of electron emission, and the measured peak energies are in excellent agreement with kinematic calculations. The energy integrated cross sections show isotropic angular distribution for target and projectile species in their respective rest frames. The Auger-Meitner peak energy for target as well as projectile emission show significant difference in comparison to the characteristic L-MM Auger-Meitner energy peak from atomic Ar. The experimental measurements have been complimented with development of a theoretical model to calculate the transition probabilities corresponding to prominent L-MM Auger-Meitner transitions in neutral and multiply charged Ar atom. Comparison between measured and calculated spectra shows that the measured emission peak at approximately 150 eV originates from Auger-Meitner decay of $\mathrm{Ar^{4+}}$ ions. The peak energies for target and projectile emission are found to be equal, independent of the initial projectile charge state. This indicates that the decay occurs following extensive multiple ionization, charge exchange processes resulting in charge-state equilibration of the collision partners. The results demonstrate that collision-induced electronic rearrangement strongly modifies the Auger-Meitner spectra and provide evidence for an equilibrium target-projectile charge state in low-energy $\mathrm{Ar^{q+} - Ar}$ collisions.