Delta electrons: An atomic clock for deep inelastic collisions

We calculate the δ-electron distribution resulting from heavy ion collisions with projectile energies above the Coulomb barrier. It is shown that the life time (Δτ?10^?21s) of superheavy composite systems causes pronounced oscillations in the electron spectrum. The width of the oscillations is found to be ΔE=h/Δτ. This effect can be used to measure nuclear sticking times quite accurately.