Charge state evolution of 2 MeV/u sulfur ion passing through thin carbon foil

Charge state distribution and its evolution for 2.0 MeV/u sulfur ions after passing through 0.9, 1.1, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.7, 6.9 and 10 μg/cm2 carbon foils have been extensively studied following our previous paper [M. Imai, M. Sataka, K. Kawatsura, K. Takahiro, K. Komaki, H. Shibata, H. Sugai, K. Nishio, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 230 (2005) 63] to derive data for all the initial charge states between 6+ and 14+. Measured charge state distributions, their mean charge states and distribution widths do not flat off to establish equilibrium within the measured target thickness, and an overshooting feature of the distribution width for S6+ projectile is observed around 1 μg/cm2 in the target thickness. Two kinds of calculations, one based on rate equations accounting only for single charge transfer and the other applying ETACHA code, show good agreements with the experimental evolutions of mean charge and distribution width.