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Title: Solar Wind Charge Exchange Studies Of Highly Charged Ions On Atomic Hydrogen

Journal Article · · AIP Conference Proceedings
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3586067· OSTI ID:21513336
;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States)
  2. Department of Physics, Albion College, Albion, MI 49224 (United States)
  3. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)

Accurate studies of low-energy charge exchange (CX) are critical to understanding underlying soft X-ray radiation processes in the interaction of highly charged ions from the solar wind with the neutral atoms and molecules in the heliosphere, cometary comas, planetary atmospheres, interstellar winds, etc.. Particularly important are the CX cross sections for bare, H-like, and He-like ions of C, N, O and Ne, which are the dominant charge states for these heavier elements in the solar wind. Absolute total cross sections for single electron capture by H-like ions of C, N, O and fully-stripped O ions from atomic hydrogen have been measured in an expanded range of relative collision energies (5 eV/u-20 keV/u) and compared to previous H-oven measurements. The present measurements are performed using a merged-beams technique with intense highly charged ion beams extracted from a 14.5 GHz ECR ion source installed on a high voltage platform at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For the collision energy range of 0.3 keV/u-3.3 keV/u, which corresponds to typical ion velocities in the solar wind, the new measurements are in good agreement with previous H-oven measurements. The experimental results are discussed in detail and compared with theoretical calculations where available.

OSTI ID:
21513336
Journal Information:
AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1336, Issue 1; Conference: CAARI 2010: 21. International Conference on the Application of Accelerators in Research and Industry, Fort Worth, TX (United States), 8-13 Aug 2010; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3586067; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English