Measurement of Absolute Single and Double Charge Exchange Cross Sections for Si at 0.88-2.50 KeV/u Impacting He and H

First measurements are reported for total, absolute, single, and double charge-exchange (CE) cross sections for Si ions in the solar wind (SW), colliding with the prevalent astrophysical species H and He found in comets, the interplanetary medium, and planetary atmospheres. Measurements are in the energy range 0.88-2.50 keV/u, corresponding to the energies of the "fast" and "slow" ion components of the SW. Limited agreement is found with single-exchange results calculated in the classical over-the-barrier model. These CE data are useful for understanding, in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, photon emissions in the X-ray to visible energy range arising from resulting ion-stabilization steps.