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Abstract

We consider the influence of a weak low-frequency electromagnetic field on the binary-encounter electron emission in fast ion-atom collisions. It is shown that the electromagnetic field, which would have no impact on the collision-free system, can be very effectively coupled to the projectile-target system in collisions where an electron experiences strong acceleration during the process of emission. In such a case a large amount of energy is exchanged between the system and the field, which can result in profound modifications of the energy and angular distributions of the emitted electron. It is also found that at a certain collision geometry a large energy exchange with the field has only a very weak impact on the electron spectra. This might suggest that, in field-assisted ion-atom collisions, a heavy particle, whose direct interaction with the electromagnetic field is negligible, can be rather effectively coupled to the field in an indirect way by 'using' an electron as a mediator.