Charge exchange of rare gas ions: An ion kinetic energy study

The charge exchange reaction m++ + N → m+- + N+- has been studied at 8 keV impact energy in a double-focusing mass spectrometer for each combination of the rare gas ions and atoms. The kinetic energy gained or lost by the fast species m has been measured and from this the states of m+- and N+- have been assigned. Generally all the observed peaks correlate with known states of the product ions and the relative intensities of the peaks are in approximate agreement with previously determined cross sections. The Massey ''near-resonance'' criterion is qualitatively applicable. Extension of the work to the study of polyatomic species is reported.