Observation of two components in molecular cusp spectra for ˜˜MeV/U H+, He++,++ projectiles on M ⩾ 4 hydrocarbon molecules

Recently it has been realized that the cusp spectra obtained with bare projectiles and "clothed" projectiles incident on gaseous targets are different in their widths and symmetries due to origin of the electrons in the cusp. For the case of bare projectiles, the electrons in the cusp are those captured frorn the target to the projectile's continuum, while in the case of the clothed projectiles the dominant contribution to the cusp yield is from projectile electrons that are expelled into the continuum during the collision. The former process is called electron capture to the continuum (ECC), while the latter is called electron loss to the continuum (ELC); together these processes constitute electron transfer to the continuum (ETC).