Atomic collisions with relativistic heavy ions. VII.L- andM-shell electron stripping of ions in light targets

The charge distribution of many-electron ions (Xe,U) moving with relativistic velocities through light target foils is examined. In these targets, electron capture into the L and M shells of the ion and multiple ionization are negligible compared to one-electron stripping. Using a simple model for the stripping cross section, we show that a universal analytical expression can then be obtained for the target-thickness dependence of each charge fraction of the ion. This expression gives insight into the statistical nature of the stripping process and allows the extraction of one-electron ionization cross sections.