Guiding 3-keV Ne${}^{7+}$ ions through nanocapillaries in insulating polyethylene terephthalate was investigated as function of the capillary diameter. Highly parallel capillaries with a density of $4\times {10}^6$ cm${}^{-2}$ and diameters of 100, 150, 200, 300, and 400 nm were utilized. The characteristic charges governing the charge evolution of the total ion yield were found to be independent of the capillary diameter. However, certain dynamic properties were found to change significantly with this diameter: The transmission profiles of the 100 nm capillaries are broad and structureless, whereas those for 300 nm are composed of three peaks and the mean angle oscillates with deposited charge. At equilibrium the total ion yield was studied as a function of the tilt angle. The results were used to evaluate guiding angles, which were found to be almost constant near $5.5{}^{°}$ with varying capillary diameter similarly as the characteristic charge governing the charge evolution. The width of the transmission profiles are found to decrease from $3.3{}^{°}$ to $1.7{}^{°}$ with increasing capillary diameter from 100 to 400 nm. Model considerations were applied to interpret the results.

• Received 15 July 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.82.052902