Scattering and stopping of swift diatomic molecules under Coulomb explosion

The scattering and stopping of the fragments of a fast diatomic molecule under Coulomb explosion has been analyzed theoretically. The central assumption in the scheme is the dominance of Coulomb explosion, while electronic stopping (including wake forces) and elastic scattering are treated as perturbations. Charge exchange has been neglected. Coulomb images of penetration phenomena are heavily distorted. For small penetrated layer thicknesses, images appear contracted in the direction of the molecular axis, and expanded perpendicular to it. This distortion is described quantitatively by a linear transformation. General expressions have been derived for the effect of continuous and stochastic forces on the distribution of fragment velocities from Coulomb explosion (the ''ring pattern''). Moreover, relations have been found that allow to scale velocity distributions valid in the absence of Coulomb explosion into distributions allowing for Coulomb explosion. Applications concern the shift in ring pattern due to electronic stopping, the lateral broadening due to multiple scattering and the effect of zero-point motion on the Coulomb image of a molecule. 14 refs., 5 figs