RADIATIVE RECOMBINATION BETWEEN FULLY STRIPPED IONS AND FREE-ELECTRONS

In the present paper we report on measurements of the rate coefficient for radiative recombination between free electrons and bare ions. The measurements were done with merging beams of electrons and 2-MeV/amu fully stripped He, C, and F ions. Relative energies between 0 and 1 eV were considered. In the low-energy limit, calculations of the n and l distribution of the cross section, according to the exact theory by Stobbe, are presented for values of n up to 60. It is shown that corrections to the Bethe and Salpeter theory are needed for capture to the low-n states. The experimental data are compared with a calculation based on the Bethe and Salpeter theory as well as a calculation based on Stobbes theory for n3 and the Bethe and Salpeter theory for n>3. © 1990 The American Physical Society.