Electronic excitation in transmission of relativistic H{sup {minus}} ions through thin foils

The authors describe a theoretical model to study the transmission of relativistic H{sup {minus}} ions through thin carbon foils. The approach is based on a Monte Carlo solution of the Langevin equation describing electronic excitations of the atoms during the transport through the foil. Calculations for the subshell populations of outgoing hydrogen atoms are found to be in good agreement with recent experimental data on an absolute scale and show that there exists a propensity for populating extreme Stark states.