Recent results on fast electron production induced by energetic heavy ions on thin solid targets

In order to study the emission of energetic electrons induced by the impact of swift heavy ions on thin solid targets, we carried out a series of experiments at the Superconducting Cyclotron of the Catania Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in November and December 2001. We bombarded solid thin targets, ranging from carbon to bismuth, with different ion beams at fixed velocity, i.e. ∼23 MeV/nucleon 197Au36+, 58Ni14+ and 12C3+. Absolute velocity spectra were measured in a wide laboratory angular range, from 1.5 deg. to 175 deg. . At forward angles, besides the well-known convoy and binary encounter components with the beam velocity and two times the beam velocity respectively, we observe also a high velocity tail and an intermediate velocity component. At backward laboratory angles, the spectra remain complex, still presenting an energetic tail. These electron velocity spectra strongly depend on the beam and target atomic numbers. We suggest a Fermi-Shuttle (or multiscattering) mechanism and an in-flight-emission of projectile Auger electrons to explain some of the observed features in the velocity spectra