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S. Guillous

Publications and source records attributed to S. Guillous.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Molten salt ion source using glass capillaries as emitter

A proof of concept of an ion source using a molten salt mixture rich in Cs and O ions, able to emit an ion current both in positive and negative polarities, is presented. Similar to liquid metal ion sources, the ions of the salt are emitted by field evaporation from a Taylor cone formed under the influence of an intense electric field. In contrast to an "open" source design in which the conducting liquid covers the surface of a metallic needle, the presented setup uses a conical glass capillary as an emitter tip. {\ffcol The latter is observed by a camera, which revealed the formation of a bubble in the tip containing the molten salt. A glow was also observed during beam emission revealing the anchoring point of the stressed meniscus.} A stable ion beam emission of about 50 min and an intensity of several $\mu$A was obtained. The behavior of the molten salt mixture in vacuum conditions is discussed, as its properties are essential to the design of the presented ion source.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Investigation of the Carbon Monoxide Dication Lifetime Using (CO)$_2$ Dimer Fragmentation

The fragmentation of carbon monoxide dimers induced by collisions with low energy Ar$^{9+}$ ions is investigated using the COLTRIMS technique. The presence of a neighbor molecule in the dimer serves here as a diagnostic tool to probe the lifetimes of the $\rm CO^{2+}$ molecular dications resulting from the collision. The existence of metastable states with lifetimes ranging from 2~ps to 200~ns is clearly evidenced experimentally through a sequential 3-body fragmentation of the dimer, whereas fast dissociation channels are observed in a so-called concerted 3-body fragmentation process. The fast fragmentation process leads to a kinetic energy release distribution also observed in collisions with monomer CO targets. This is found in contradiction with the conclusions of a former study attributing this fast process to the perturbation induced by the neighbor molecular ion.

physics.atm-clus

Coulomb explosion imaging of carbon monoxide dimers

We report on experimental results obtained from collisions of slow highly charged Ar9+ ions with a carbon monoxide dimer (CO)2 target. A COLTRIMS setup and a Coulomb explosion imaging approach are used to reconstruct the structure of the CO dimers. The three dimensional structure is deduced from the 2-body and 3-body dissociation channels from which both the intermolecular bond length and the relative orientation of the two molecules are determined. For the 3-body channels, the experimental data are interpreted with the help of a classical model in which the trajectories of the three emitted fragments are numerically integrated. We measured the equilibrium intermolecular distance to be Re = 4.2 A. The orientation of both CO molecules with respect to the dimer axis is found to be quasi-isotropic due to the large vibrational temperature of the gas jet.

physics.atm-clus

A Coulomb Over-the-Barrier Monte Carlo Simulation to probe Ion-Dimer Collision Dynamics

We present a combined theoretical and experimental study of primary and post-collision mechanisms involved when colliding low energy multiply charged ions with van der Waals dimers. The collision dynamics is investigated using a classical calculation based on the Coulombic Over-the- Barrier Model adapted to rare-gas dimer targets. Despite its simplicity, the model predictions are found in very good agreement with experimental results obtained using COLd Target Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy (COLTRIMS), both for the relative yields of the different relaxation processes and for the associated transverse momentum exchange distributions between the projectile and the target. This agreement shows to which extent van der Waals dimers can be assimilated to independent atoms.

physics.atm-clus

Interatomic Coulombic Decay as a New Source of Low Energy Electrons in slow Ion-Dimer Collisions

We provide the experimental evidence that the single electron capture process in slow collisions between O$^{3+}$ ions and neon dimer targets leads to an unexpected production of low-energy electrons. This production results from the interatomic Coulombic decay process, subsequent to inner shell single electron capture from one site of the neon dimer. Although pure one-electron capture from inner shell is expected to be negligible in the low collision energy regime investigated here, the electron production due to this process overtakes by one order of magnitude the emission of Auger electrons by the scattered projectiles after double-electron capture. This feature is specific to low charge states of the projectile: similar studies with Xe$^{20+}$ and Ar$^{9+}$ projectiles show no evidence of inner shell single-electron capture. The dependence of the process on the projectile charge state is interpreted using simple calculations based on the classical over the barrier model.

physics.atom-ph

Atomic site sensitive processes in low energy ion-dimer collisions

Electron capture processes for low energy Ar9+ ions colliding on Ar2 dimer targets are investigated, focusing attention on charge sharing as a function of molecule orientation and impact parameter. A preference in charge-asymmetric dissociation channels is observed, with a strong correlation between the projectile scattering angle and the molecular ion orientation. The measurements provide here clear evidences that projectiles distinguish each atom in the target and, that electron capture from near-site atom is favored. Monte Carlo calculations based on the classical over-the-barrier model, with dimer targets represented as two independent atoms, are compared to the data. They give a new insight into the dynamics of the collision by providing, for the di erent electron capture channels, the two-dimensional probability maps p(~b), where ~b is the impact parameter vector in the molecular frame.

nucl-ex

Damage in graphene due to electronic excitation induced by highly charged ions

Graphene is expected to be rather insensitive to ionizing particle radiation. We demonstrate that single layers of exfoliated graphene sustain significant damage from irradiation with slow highly charged ions. We have investigated the ion induced changes of graphene after irradiation with highly charged ions of different charge states (q = 28-42) and kinetic energies E_kin = 150-450 keV. Atomic force microscopy images reveal that the ion induced defects are not topographic in nature but are related to a significant change in friction. To create these defects, a minimum charge state is needed. In addition to this threshold behaviour, the required minimum charge state as well as the defect diameter show a strong dependency on the kinetic energy of the projectiles. From the linear dependency of the defect diameter on the projectile velocity we infer that electronic excitations triggered by the incoming ion in the above-surface phase play a dominant role for this unexpected defect creation in graphene.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Online in-situ X-ray diffraction setup for structural modification studies during swift heavy ion irradiation

The high energy density of electronic excitations due to the impact of swift heavy ions can induce structural modifications in materials. We present a X-ray diffractometer called ALIX, which has been set up at the low-energy IRRSUD beamline of the GANIL facility, to allow the study of structural modification kinetics as a function of the ion fluence. The X-ray setup has been modified and optimized to enable irradiation by swift heavy ions simultaneously to X-ray pattern recording. We present the capability of ALIX to perform simultaneous irradiation - diffraction by using energy discrimination between X-rays from diffraction and from ion-target interaction. To illustrate its potential, results of sequential or simultaneous irradiation - diffraction are presented in this article to show radiation effects on the structural properties of ceramics. Phase transition kinetics have been studied during xenon ion irradiation of polycrystalline MgO and SrTiO3. We have observed that MgO oxide is radiation-resistant to high electronic excitations, contrary to the high sensitivity of SrTiO3, which exhibits transition from the crystalline to the amorphous state during irradiation. By interpreting the amorphization kinetics of SrTiO3, defect overlapping models are discussed as well as latent track characteristics. Together with a transmission electron microscopy study, we conclude that a single impact model describes the phase transition mechanism.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci