Studies of Fast Beam Produced Recoil Ions in a Penning Trap

Low energy recoil ions (Ne+q, 1¿q¿8) have been produced and contained in a Penning-type ion trap by means of a stripped 35 MeV Cl+5 beam from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory EN Tandem Van de Graaff. Initial investigation of the axial energy distribution of the stored recoil ions indicates that mean energies are less than 2q eV. The rate constants for several electron transfer processes were determined by the direct measurement of stored ion population decay as a function of pressure. Preliminary results are: k(Ne+3, Ne) ¿ Products = 0.5×10-9cm3/s k(Ne+4, Ne) ¿ Products = 3.5×10-9cm3/s k(Ne+5, Ne) ¿ Products = 4×10-9cm3/s k(Ne+6, Ne) ¿ Products = 8×10-9cm3/s. The relative numbers of the stored low energy recoiling Ne+q ions (3¿q¿8) agree with the results of production processes initiated by much more highly charged projectiles such as Xe+38 and U+44.