COLTRIMS in Collision Physics

The COLd Target Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy (COLTRIMS) has revolutionized Collision Physics in the 90s. By introducing coincidence and imaging techniques in their experimental setup, three pioneering groups (KSU, IKF, and CIMAP) have given a direct access to collision dynamics and correlations between the reaction products. This technique has been first applied to ion–atom and ion–molecule collisions for both high and low projectile energies, from keV to GeV, and soon after to photo-ionization by synchrotron radiation. With the recent advent of short pulse-high power lasers, COLTRIMS technique has been naturally and successfully introduced leading to world-class results on strong field’s interaction with matter.