Production of Carbon Characteristic X Rays by Heavy-Ion Bombardment

Abstract

Cross sections for carbon $K$ x-ray production have been measured for the ions ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{C}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{N}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{Ne}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{Ar}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{Kr}}^{+}$, and ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{+}$ incident on a carbon target, at energies 20 to 80 keV. The cross sections for the heavy ions are several orders of magnitude larger than those predicted by direct scattering theory and are interpreted in terms of the electron-promotion mechanism of molecular orbital theory.