Absolute charge transfer and fragmentation cross sections in He2++C60 collisions

Abstract

We present a set of theoretical methods to study the different processes taking place in ion-fullerene collisions. In particular, we focus on charge transfer, excitation and fragmentation processes. These methods have been successfully applied to the case of He2+ + C60 collisions. We have found that single and double charge transfer cross sections are of the same order of magnitude in the velocity range studied (impact energy ∼ 0.1 – 10 keV). Fragmentation of C+60 into C+58 + C2 is observed only with large excitation energies and/or if one waits long enough (detecting the fragments at large distances from the collision). The agreement between our predictions and the experimental results supports the validity of the methods presented.