MANY-ELECTRON DYNAMICS IN COLLISIONS OF SLOW IONS WITH METAL-CLUSTERS

We present a many-body quantum dynamical treatment of electron capture in ion-metal cluster collisions at low velocities. The model includes nonlinear dynamical effects induced by the projectile. We have evalua ted cross sections and energy deposits in H+ + Na-20 collisions and fo und that, in contrast with atomic collisions, (i) capture-excitation m echanisms contribute significantly to neutralization and (ii) excitati on cross sections are comparable to capture cross sections.