Charge Exchange and Energy Loss of Slow Highly Charged Ions in 1 nm Thick Carbon Nanomembranes

Experimental charge exchange and energy loss data for the transmission of slow highly charged Xe ions through ultra thin polymeric carbon membranes are presented. Surprisingly, two distinct exit charge state distributions accompanied by charge exchange dependent kinetic energy losses are observed. The energy loss for ions exhibiting large charge loss shows a quadratic dependency on the incident charge state, indicating that equilibrium stopping force values do not apply in this case. Additional angle resolved transmission measurements and reduction of the layer thickness due to a structural phase transition of the membrane lead to the conclusion that a charge state enhanced elastic scattering potential is the main reason for the increase in energy loss rather than charge state enhanced inelastic losses. Thus, the presented results connect scattering experiments of ions on gaseous and on solid targets.