Radiative electron capture to continuum in relativistic ion–atom collisions

Abstract

The capture of a target electron to the projectile continuum with simultaneousphoton emission, known as radiative ionization (RI), is investigated theoreticallyfor fast, highly charged projectiles colliding with light target atoms. Based on theimpulse approximation in its post form, the features of radiative ionization arestudied and contrasted with the related processes of radiative electron capture andnonradiative electron capture to continuum (ECC). A large RI cusp asymmetry isfound, increasing strongly with projectile charge but decreasing with projectilevelocity. However, in contrast to ECC, the cusp is skewed to the high-energyside. Results are shown for 20 MeV amu−1 Kr36+ + H and for 100 and 400 MeV amu−1 U92+on H and N.