State-selective electron transfer in He++He collisions at intermediate energies

Abstract

Electron transfer processes in ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}+\mathrm{He}$ collisions are studied theoretically using a three-electron semiclassical atomic-orbital close-coupling method in a wide energy domain, from 1 to 225 keV/u. Total, state-selective, and angular-differential cross sections are presented and compared with available experimental and theoretical results. A prominent oscillatory energy dependence structure in the transfer-excitation cross sections is observed and explained by a strong competition between these channels and the projectile-excitation processes. Moreover, the angular-differential cross sections considered in this work exhibit an oscillatory structure which is interpreted within a Fraunhofer-type diffraction model. For the two highest considered collision energies, the cross sections show a different pattern for which both Fraunhofer-type diffraction and the Thomas mechanism have to be advocated.