Electron detachment in H-(D-) collisions with rare-gas atoms: energy spectra of the detached electrons

The energy spectra of detached electrons resulting from detachment collisions of H-(D-) ions with rare-gas atoms (He, Ne, Ar Kr and Xe) have been measured for collision energies between 2 and 250 eV. The results for H--He and H-?-Ar show systematic deviations from earlier measurements. The angular dependence of the electron energy spectra is weak in the collision energy range studied. Only for H--Xe at 50 eV are the spectra found to exhibit a systematic variation with the observation angle. The comparison between the H-and D- results indicates that the collision velocity plays a decisive role for the energy distribution of the detached electrons. The measured spectra are found to be nearly identical for the same velocity of the two isotopic projectiles. An interesting interference structure is observed in some of the measurements, for which a tentative explanation is given. (author)