Electron Loss from Fast, Low‐Charge‐State Ions Colliding with Gases

Absolute cross sections for single and multiple projectile loss from MeV/u low‐charge‐state argon and xenon ions are presented. The impact energies were 0.74 and 1.4 MeV/u and the incoming charge states were 1,2 and 3. Using the present and data from the literature, it was shown that the multiple loss cross sections scale as (ΣBE)−n, where ΣBE is the sum of the binding energies required to remove a certain number of electrons. The power n was found to be velocity dependent, varying roughly from 2.5 to 1 for velocities ranging from approximately 0.2 to 20 (units of 108 cm/s).