Hollow ion formation and decay in slow Bi46+-C-60 collisions

The interaction of slow highly charged ions with many-electron targets leads to the formation of unstable, multiply excited projectiles. We simulated the formation of such hollow ions for slow incident Bi46+ projectiles and C-60 targets. Our semiclassical overbarrier simulation includes resonant exchange and Auger emission of electrons. It models the dynamical variation of level occupations and charge states during the collision and predicts highly unstable hollow ions immediately after the collision. With respect to the subsequent downstream relaxation of the hollow ions, we propose a simple relaxation scheme that includes autoionizing and radiative transitions. As a consequence of this downstream relaxation, almost all of the resonantly captured electrons are emitted.