KINETIC ENERGIES OF RECOIL IONS PRODUCED IN 100-MEV COLLISIONS OF SI-8+ WITH CO2 MOLECULES

Recoil ions produced in 100-MeV collions of Si8+ with CO2 have been studied by energ-discriminated mass spectrometry. Kinetic-energy distribution measurements of atomic recoil ions formed from very highly charged CO2 molecular ions show that, whereas CO2+ and CO2(2+) yield essentially a thermal distribution, atomic C and O ions possess large kinetic energies; O ions possess much larger kinetic energies than corresponding C ions, as expected from multiply charged, linear CO2. The relatively large energies imparted to C ions are explained in terms of a sequential Coulomb explosion model.