Projectile-charge dependence of theKx-ray emission cross section of carbon bombarded by megavolt nitrogen ions

Abstract

The carbon $K$ x-ray emission cross section of methane molecules bombarded by 1- to 5-MeV nitrogen ions has been measured for incident charges +2 to +5 under single-collision conditions. Only x rays with energies which penetrate the polypropylene window of a proportional counter are counted. The cross sections increase monotonically with ion energy. Above 2 MeV they also increase with ion charge, to a maximum of nearly ${10}^{-18\mathrm{}}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^2$.