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Precise charge-state distribution of projectile ions through solid targets

Manpreet Kaur1, Sanjeev Kumar1, and T. Nandi2,*,†

  • *Contact author: nanditapan@gmail.com
  • †Formerly at Inter-University Accelerator Center, JNU New Campus, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110067, India.
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Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 28, 120101 – Published 5 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jlcc-f5dy

Abstract

The charge-state distribution (CSD) of the projectile ions through solid targets in the intermediate energy range (1  MeV/u<E<4  MeV/u) has a major impact on the collision of the ion atom and accelerator physics. We explore the mean charge states taken from the empirical formula [G. Schiwietz et al., Femtosecond dynamics–snapshots of the early ion-track evolution, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. B 225, 4 (2004)] are only good for projectile ions with Z1≤16. To solve this issue, we develop a model in which instead of a single formula, if we employ four formulas, the comparative picture between experimental and empirical data becomes impressive. Furthermore, the CSDs obatained using the mean charge state and the Gaussian distribution function having distribution width as given by Novikov and Teplove [Methods of estimation of equilibrium charge distribution of ions in solid and gaseous media, Phys. Lett. A 378, 1286 (2014)] show good agreement with the experimentally measured CSDs for the entire range of projectile ions. We believe that accurate CSDs will be highly useful for both ion-atom collision and accelerator physics.

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Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 28, 120101– Published 5 December, 2025
  • Received 26 March 2025
  • Accepted 29 October 2025
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