Translational-energy spectroscopy: A personal perspective of its development

Translational-energy spectroscopy (TES) has been widely employed over the l ast 30 yr to characterize the collision-induced and unimolecular reactions of ions. A personal view is taken of the breath of the field and some of th e landmark events that have helped shape it. In this article, the descripti on of the technique is confined to applications for ion beams with translat ional energies from 0.1 to 10 keV and those not relying on the absorption o r emission of radiation. Collisions of ions with a neutral target gas can r eveal spectroscopic information on the states of the participating species, dynamics of the collision, lifetimes of species, collision cross sections, and populations of states. The work from six key laboratories is included to illustrate the range of applications. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.