Simulation of MeV/atom cluster correlations in matter

Abstract

We present an efficient algorithm able to predict the trajectories of individual cluster constituents as they penetrate relatively thick amorphous targets. Our algorithm properly treats both the intracluster Coulomb repulsion and the collisions between cluster constituents and target atoms. We have compared our simulation predictions to experimental measurements of the distribution of lateral exit velocities, and demonstrated that the in-target Coulomb explosion of 2MeV/atom carbon clusters in carbon foils must be shielded with a screening length of less than 2.5 Å. We also present a simple phenomenological model for the suppression of the exit-side charge of ions in clusters which depends on the enhanced ionization potential that an electron near an ion feels due to the ion's charged comoving neighbors. By using our simulation algorithm we have predicted the exit correlations of the cluster constituents and verified that the charge suppression model fits the observed charge suppression of ions in clusters to within the experimental uncertainties.

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