Characteristic X-ray production in heavy ion collisions

The characteristic K X-ray production from projectile and solid target atom s in heavy ion collisions have been measured using a high-resolution Ge-det ector. Ni projectiles in the energy range 15-25 MeV have been used to irrad iate various thick targets made of materials in the Z range 22-32. In this energy region, the transition from predominantly quasi-molecular excitation to predominantly Coulomb excitation occurs. These measurements have been d one in connection with our programme with a fairly new analytical technique , a combination of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and the detection of characteristic X-rays. From the measurements, experimental K X-ray cross-s ections have been extracted. Comparisons with other experimental data as we ll as with theoretical values are presented. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.