Radiative Electron Capture Studied for Bare, Decelerated Uranium Ions

Abstract

By applying the deceleration technique for bare uranium ions at the ESR storage ring we studied the Radiative Electron Capture process in collisions with low-Z target atoms. This allowed us to extend the current information about the time-reversed photoionization process of highly-charged heavy ions to much lower energies than those accessible for neutral heavy elements in the direct reaction channel. The angular differential data obtained prove theoretical predictions that at high-Z higher-order multipole contributions and magnetic corrections play an important role even at energies close to the threshold.