Guiding of slow highly charged ions through insulating nanocapillaries in PET polymers

The transmission of highly charged ions through nanocapillaries in insulating PET polymers was investigated. The data clearly indicates capillary guiding for which the majority of ions are rendered along the capillary axis when the capillaries are tilted with respect to the incident beam direction. New PET samples with parallel capillaries were adopted in experiments using a variety of ions. The results yield new insights into the mechanisms of capillary guiding. The fraction of transmitted ions was found to be independent on the incident ion current indicating a sudden increase in the discharge current. The results are discussed in terms of the guiding power which specifies the ability of a material to guide ions. Combining the present work with previous studies, we observed a relation between the guiding power and the width of the transmission profile.