Simulation of the energy spectra of original versus recombined H2+ molecular ions transmitted through thin foils -: art. no. 032901

This work presents the results of computer simulations for the energy spectra of original versus recombined H-2(+) molecular ions transmitted through thin amorphous carbon foils, for a broad range of incident energies. A detailed description of the projectile motion through the target has been done, including nuclear scattering and Coulomb repulsion as well as electronic self-retarding and wake forces; the two latter are calculated in the dielectric formalism framework. Differences in the energy spectra of recombined and original transmitted H-2(+) molecular ions clearly appear in the simulations, in agreement with the available experimental data. Our simulation code also differentiates the contributions due to original and to recombined H-2(+) molecular ions when the energy spectra contain both contributions, a feature that could be used for experimental purposes in estimating the ratio between the number of original and recombined H-2(+) molecular ions transmitted through thin foils.