Young-Type Interference in Projectile-Electron Loss in Energetic Ion-Molecule Collisions

Under certain conditions an electron bound in a fast projectile ion, colliding with a molecule, interacts mainly with the nuclei and inner shell electrons of atoms forming the molecule. Because of their compact localization in space and distinct separation from each other, these molecular centers play in such collisions a role similar to that of optical slits in light scattering leading to pronounced interference in the spectra of the electron emitted from the projectile.