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Deexcitations of the projectile dominating EUV-photon emission upon transmission of keV ions through solids

Kevin Vomschee1,*, Radek Holeňák2, Carolin Frank1,3, Svenja Lohmann2, Eleni Ntemou1, and Daniel Primetzhofer1,2

  • *Contact author: kevin.vomschee@physics.uu.se
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Phys. Rev. A 113, 052812 – Published 19 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/gt9t-rvn9

Abstract

We measure the photon emission induced by energetic Ne and He ions transmitted through thin single crystalline Si foils. The emitted photons are detected with a delay line microchannel plate detector. Our measurements show that photon emission detectable from the rear surface of the membranes is multiple times more likely than photon emission from the front surface of the membrane. It can be deduced that photon emission from electronic deexcitation of the sample can only play a minor role, while the vast majority of detected photons are emitted by excited projectiles freely decaying behind the sample. Utilizing shadowing effects, we can show that a large proportion of excited projectiles travels several centimeters before decaying. The photons observed in the present approach are another accessible observable reporting on ultrafast processes during ion-matter interaction.

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Phys. Rev. A 113, 052812– Published 19 May, 2026
  • Received 29 January 2026
  • Accepted 5 May 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by Bibsam.

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