Cross Section Scaling for H₂O Ionization by Highly-Charged Ion Impact

Electron production following single and multiple ionization of H2O by bare ion impact is theoretically studied by means of the classical trajectory Monte Carlo method. Our results are benchmarked against experimental data collected in different laboratories and other theoretical data obtained by means of distorted wave methods. In this work, the ten electrons in the molecule are explicitly considered, in contrast to previous formulations based on a single active electron description of the target. Present studies cover the energy range of (100 keV/amu)/Zp to (1000 keV/amu)/Zp , where Zp is the incident projectile charge. Projectile charges investigated ranged from 1+ to 13+ . A simple scaling of the cross section is presented. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]