Orientation dependence of multiple ionization of diatomic molecules in collisions with fast highly charged ions

Abstract
We report an observation of the strong dependence of the multiple (6<q<~10) ionization cross section on the alignment of the molecular axis in collisions of highly charged Xe ions with N2 molecules at an impact energy of 5.9 MeV/amu. Theoretical calculations based on the statistical-energy-deposition model well describe the experimental data.