X-Ray Spectroscopy: An Experimental Technique to Measure Charge State Distribution Right at the Ion-Solid Interaction

Charge state distributions of $^{56}$Fe and $^{58}$Ni projectile ions passing through thin carbon foils have been studied in the energy range of 1.44 - 2.69 MeV/u using a novel method from the x-ray spectroscopy technique. Interestingly the charge state distribution in the bulk show Lorentzian behavior instead of usual Gaussian distribution. Further, different parameters of charge state distribution like mean charge state, distribution width and asymmetric parameter are determined and compared with the empirical calculations and ETACHA predictions. It is found that the x-ray measurement technique is appropriate to determine the mean charge state right at the interaction zone or in the bulk. Interestingly, empirical formalism predicts much lower projectile mean charge states compare to x-ray measurements which clearly indicate multi-electron capture from the target surface. The ETACHA predictions and experimental results are found to be comparable for energies $\geq$ 2 MeV/u.