0000000000354463
AUTHOR
Gregory V. Brown
Pulsed gas injection for X-ray spectroscopy of highly charged ions stored in the magnetic trapping mode of an electron beam ion trap
Abstract Highly charged atoms produced in an electron beam ion trap were stored after the electron beam was turned off by operating the trap in the magnetic trapping mode. Such storage allowed monitoring charge exchange reactions between the stored ions and residual neutral gas present in the trap by X-ray detection. The charge exchange reactions were enhanced by the application of a pulse of neutral gas. The method was exemplified for the case of H-like uranium interacting with neutral neon, where the K-shell X-rays and the series limit for the electron capture of U91+ were observed.
X-ray measurements of charge transfer reactions involving cold, very highly charged ions
The magnetic trapping mode of the Livermore high-energy Electron Beam Ion Trap is exploited to study charge transfer reactions between cold (few eV/amu) highly charged ions and gases. By selectively puffing neutral gases and monitoring the x-ray emission, state-selective measurements of the charge transfer reaction channels are possible. The observed K-shell x-ray spectra show prominent emission from high-n levels decaying to the n = 1 ground level, which is enabled by electron capture into states with low orbital angular momentum. A comparison with modeling calculations, therefore, allows a determination of the range of principal and angular momentum quantum numbers involved in the reactio…