skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Metal vapor target for precise studies of ion-atom collisions

Journal Article · · Review of Scientific Instruments
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4878626· OSTI ID:22308861
; ; ;  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [1]
  1. GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany)
  2. Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000 Gansu (China)
  3. Helmholtz-Institut Jena Fröbelstieg 3, 07743 Jena (Germany)
  4. ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI and Research Division, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany)

Although different ion-atom collisions have been studied in various contexts, precise values of cross-sections for many atomic processes were seldom obtained. One of the main uncertainties originates from the value of target densities. In this paper, we describe a unique method to measure a target density precisely with a combination of physical vapor deposition and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. This method is preliminarily applied to a charge transfer cross-section measurement in collisions between highly charged ions and magnesium vapor. The final relative uncertainty of the target density is less than 2.5%. This enables the precise studies of atomic processes in ion-atom collisions, even though in the trial test the deduction of precise capture cross-sections was limited by other systematic errors.

OSTI ID:
22308861
Journal Information:
Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 85, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English