Target dependence for low-Z ion charge state fractions

Equilibrium charge state fractions have been measured for 3–7 MeV lithium, boron and carbon ions passing through thin foils of copper, silver, and gold. The current results are combined with other low-Z ion data from the literature to give the relative influence of different target materials on charge exchange processes. The mean charge of the projectile, the functional form of the charge state distribution, and the charge state distribution width are parameters used to examine the effects of the electronic structure on charge exchange for various target-projectile combinations. Projectile shell structure is found to have a large influence on the widths of the charge state.