Time evolution of ion guiding through nanocapillaries in a PET polymer

Abstract

The time evolution of transmitting 1.6 keV H + and 3 keV Ne 7+ ions through nanocapillaries (100 nm diameter and 10 μm length) in PET insulators was studied. By measuring the angular distribution of the transmitted projectiles it is shown that the majority of ions are transported in their initial charge state along the capillary axis even when the capillaries are tilted with respect to the incident beam direction. The results indicate ion guiding effects, which are produced by charge-up effects influencing the ion trajectories in a self-organizing manner. The data analysis reveals that a certain fraction of capillaries is inclined with respect to the foil normal. Emphasis is given to unravel the influence of the capillary inclination on the guided transmission of the different ions species.