Measurement of Absolute Single and Double Electron Capture Cross Sections for O<sup>6+</sup> Ion Collisions with CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub>, H<sub>2</sub>, and N<sub>2</sub>
Jie Han, Long Wei, Bin Wang, Baihui Ren, Wandong Yu, Yu Zhang, Y. Zou, Lei Chen, Jun Xiao, B. Wei
Abstract
Abstract The absolute electron capture cross sections for single and double charge exchanges (CEs) between the highly charged ion O 6+ and CO 2 , CH 4 , H 2 , and N 2 , the dominant collision processes in the solar wind, have been measured in the energies from 7 keV · q (2.63 keV u −1 ) to 52 keV · q (19.5 keV u −1 ). These measurements were carried out in the new experimental instrument setup at Fudan University, and the errors of the cross sections for single and double CEs at the 1 σ confidence level were about 11% and 16%, respectively. Limited agreement is achieved with single electron capture results calculated by the classical overbarrier model. These cross section data are useful for the simulation of ion–neutral processes in astrophysical environments and to improve the present theoretical model of fundamental atomic processes.