Spectra of light emitted during slow ion-atom collisions

Abstract

We study the spectra of light emitted during slow ion-atom collisions due to repeated electron transfer during the interactions, using the power radiated per unit solid angle by the diatomic time-dependent dipole. We present results relevant to experiments where the emitted light would be collected from all collisions, irrespective of their deflection angle or impact parameter. We calculate the spectra of polarized light emitted in p+H(1s) collisions, at a projectile energy of 100 eV, integrated over impact parameters, versus the light detector angle. Emitted light frequencies are distributed over the uv and near uv ranges. We also estimate the rate of photon emission for typical experimental ion and atom densities. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}