Potential energy retention of slow highly charged Ar-Ions into solid surfaces -a calorimetric measurement-

Highly charged ions (HCIs) carry a large amount of potential energy, which is defined as the sum of the binding energies of all electrons that are removed from the atom. In the case of low velocities of the ions this energy can exceed the kinetic energy of the ions. Retaining such a large energy in a very small surface area of typically about 1-10nm^2 and in a very short interaction time of typically 5-10 fs an enormous power flux of 10^13 W/cm^2 is given. Here the mechanisms of energy dissipation are not completely understood yet. A fraction of energy is released by emission of electrons and photons, the other part is retained in the surface. Micro-calorimetric techniques provide some advantages for the measurement of the energy retention. We used this technique to determine the fraction of the retained potential energy in collisions of argon ions of charge states from Ar+ to Ar9+ with atomically clean surfaces of Si. We measured values between 0.7 and 0.8 for the fraction of the retained energy. This values are compared with earlier measurements on a copper surface. The potential energy retention coefficient for silicon is about three times larger than in case of the copper surface.