Crossed-beams arrangement for the investigation of charge-changing collisions between multiply charged ions

A crossed-beams experiment designed to study charge-changing collisions between singly charged ions has been modified to extend its applicability to collisions between multiply charged ions in a broader range of collision energies. Computer simulations of the beam transport system and the new electrostatic analyzing units are presented. The ion-optical predictions are tested experimentally. A data acquisition system that allows measurements of angular differential cross sections in ion-ion collisions is described. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.