Significance of high charge state of projectile ions inside the target and its role on electron capture leading to target ionization phenomenon

The K x-ray spectra of different targets (Cu, Zn, and Ge) induced by 3 to 5 MeV/u Si projectile ions have been measured to determine the K-shell ionization cross-section. A significant difference is observed between the measurements and theoretical estimates, with the latter being about 50% below the experimental results. This underestimation} is attributed to the charge-exchange from target K-shell to projectile K- and L-shells. Such observation can only be possible if the projectile ions attain up to H- and He-like charge states. Corresponding projectile charge state fractions have been evaluated from the Lorentzian charge state distribution, where mean charge state is taken from the Fermi gas model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 30, 358 (1973)] and width from the Novikov and Teplova approach [Phys. Lett. A378, 1286-1289 (2014)]. The sum of the direct ionization cross-section and K-K + K-L capture cross-sections gives a good agreement with the measured cross-sections. Furthermore, we have validated this methodology with available data for Si-ion on Ti target. Such results may be useful in many solid target based applications.