Molecular orientation effects in CO fragmentation induced by charge-changing collisions of 6 MeV O4+ ions

Ionization and fragmentation of CO molecules have been investigated in charge-changing collisions of 6 MeV O4+ ions. Fragment ions from CO were measured in coincidence with outgoing projectile charge states by means of a momentum 3D imaging technique. Cross sections for the production of fragment ions in electron loss and capture collisions were obtained as a function of the angle between the molecular axis and the beam direction. It was found that double ionization (CO)(2+) induces rather isotropic molecular fragmentation for both electron capture and loss collisions. On the other hand, triple ionization (CO)(3+) was found to induce highly anisotropic fragmentation during electron loss collisions.