On the reduced interaction probability for fully stripped 33 TeV/c Pb ions channeled in a bent Si crystal

We compare experimental results and computer simulations on the reduction of inelastic interactions for 33 TeV Pb**8**2**+ ions channeled in a bent silicon crystal. The comparison shows that a very small fraction of the initially channeled ions suffer nuclear interactions while traversing the 60 mm long crystal under perfect alignment, even though its thickness would correspond to about 1.2 nuclear interaction lengths for an amorphous material. This result indicates that a bent crystal approach to extraction of high energy, fully stripped ions from e.g. RHIC or LHC might be feasible.