Evidence for charge exchange effects in electronic excitations in Al by slow singly charged He ions

We report on experiments of secondary electron emission in the interaction of helium ions with aluminum surfaces. Comparison between the electron emission induced by the impact of 3He+ and 4He+ on Al illustrates similarities and differences between the two projectiles. The intensity of emission shows the same dependence on velocity for the two isotopes, showing that KEE yields for helium ions impact on Al are dominated by direct excitation of valence electrons and not by electron promotion. Electron promotion and charge transfer processes are unambiguously identified by the observation of Auger electron emission from Al, at energies below the excitation threshold of Al–Al collisions, indicating energy losses for the projectiles higher than those commonly considered.