Yield of OH radicals in water under heavy ion irradiation. Dependence on mass, specific energy, and elapsed time

Dependence of yields of OH (hydroxyl) radicals on the mass and specific energy of heavy ions and elapsed time after irradiation was investigated, to understand chemical reactions of aqueous solutions. The yields of irradiation products of phenol, super-linearly increased with the incident energy of He, C, and Ne ions ranging from 2 to 18 MeV/u. The yields of the OH radicals were estimated by analyzing the yields of the irradiation products of phenol. The yields of the OH radicals increased With the specific energy for each ion, but decreased both with the mass of each ion at the same specific energy and elapsed time after irradiation. (authors)