A Study of Molecular Effects in Beam-Foil Spectroscopy

Relative populations of ns + nd levels in hydrogen as functions of the principal quantum number n have been measured with beams of H + , H 2 + , and H 3 + impinging on thin carbon foils at 25 keV/amu and 100 keV/amu. Enhancements of 20% and 45% for dimer and trimer clusters are observed uniformly for all levels. A possible explanation in terms of screening of the Coulomb repulsion between the protons inside the foil, thus reducing the effective thickness of the foil, is given. All relative populations closely follow an n p power law with p = - 4.0 and - 3.7 at 25 keV/amu and 100 keV/amu, respectively, in perfect analogy with atomic collision experiments. O + /O 2 + -foil excitations at 100 keV and 155 keV show a similar molecular effect, but in reverse with a larger mean charge produced by the dimer.