https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-026-02253-7
Regular Article
Delayed fragmentation of isolated hydrocarbon and alcohol molecules induced by MeV ions
1
Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyoto University, 615-8540, Kyoto, Japan
2
Quantum Science and Engineering Center, Kyoto University, 611-0011, Uji, Japan
a
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Received:
29
September
2025
Accepted:
3
March
2026
Published online:
17
March
2026
Abstract
We investigated the delayed fragmentation channels of isolated gas-phase molecules to gain insights into the mechanisms of radiation-induced molecular dissociation. Our previous studies have demonstrated that MeV heavy ions are effective for probing delayed fragmentation processes, likely because they efficiently generate numerous metastable intermediate ions. In this study, we systematically investigated the delayed fragmentation of acetylene, ethylene, ethane, methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and 2-propanol molecules induced by MeV-ion collisions. Several distinct delayed fragmentation channels from singly charged intermediate ions were identified in ethanol, 1-propanol, and 2-propanol. No delayed fragmentation from singly charged intermediate ions was observed in hydrocarbons and methanol. These results indicate that internal degrees of freedom play an important role in enabling delayed fragmentation from singly charged intermediate ions. Delayed deprotonation from doubly charged intermediate ions was observed in all target molecules, with characteristic lifetimes on the order of a hundred nanoseconds. Decay curves of doubly charged intermediate ions were better described by an exponential decay than by a power-law function. Additional experiments were conducted using an electrostatic ion beam trap equipped with an electron impact ion source to obtain the decay profile of singly charged intermediate ions originating from ethanol. In contrast to the delayed fragmentation of doubly charged ions observed in hydrocarbons, the decay curve was best described by a power-law function. These findings enhance our understanding of molecular fragmentation and offer valuable insights into the reaction dynamics of complex molecular systems.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
