Absolute cross-sections have been measured and compared to CTMC-calculations for single and double-electron removal from H- in collisions with Arq+ ions (q ⩽ 8) at Ec.m. = 50 keV. The single-electron removal cross-sections are found to scale with q1.3, and for the H- + Ar4+ system, this cross-section is found to have a weak energy dependence from 3 keV to 100 keV. A major implication of our measurements is that plasma neutralizers based on multiply charged ions for high-efficiency conversion of intense H- beams into H0 gain little in expected reduced length due to the inapplicability of q2-scaling in the H- single-electron removal cross-section.

A b s t r a c t Employing the Giessen ion-ion crossed-beams facility, absolute cross sections have been measured for single-and double-electron removal from H-in energetic collisions with Ar q+ (q <8) ions. The data is compared to CTMC calculations and is discussed with respect to conversion efficencies of H-into H ° beams in plasma neutralizers proposed for efficient neutral beam heating of next generation fusion plasmas.

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