Inelastic collisions of argon and chlorine ions in carbon

Abstract Inelastic effects have been studied under multiple scattering conditions in ion-solid interactions. Charge state distributions of argon and chlorine ions emerging from carbon foils were measured in the energy range from 70 to 350 keV. Differences in the average equilibrium charge state of argon and chlorine at fixed velocities are observed which is explained by inner-shell vacancy production and surface neutralization. The relevance of the obtained results for surface studies with ion beams under multiple scattering conditions is discussed.