Stopping power and range of heavy ions in solids: A comparative study

• Published in: Radiation measurements 1996-07, Vol.26 (4), p.541-560
• Main Authors: Randhawa, G.S., Virk, H.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Channeling phenomena (blocking, energy loss, etc.); Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Exact sciences and technology; Experimental methods and instrumentation for elementary-particle and nuclear physics; Nuclear physics; Physics; Radiation detectors, dosimeters; Solid-state detectors; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography
• ISSN: 1350-4487; 1879-0925
• DOI: 10.1016/1350-4487(96)00030-3

A comparative study of various stopping power and range formulations has been made by comparing the calculated stopping power and range values with corresponding experimental values for different projectiles, viz. H, He, Li, N, O, Al, Si, Xe, Au, Pb, Bi, U, etc. in different targets, e.g. Be, C, Al, Au, Pb, CR-39, Lexan, Mylar, LR-115, CH, (CH) n , TRIFOL-TN, etc. at various low and high energies. A detailed study has been made taking into consideration different target and projectile combinations, e.g. heavy ion-light target, light ion-heavy target and light ion-light target. Overall the Ziegler et al. ( The Stopping Power and Range of Ions in Solids, Vol. 1. Pergamon Press, New York, 1985) formulation (TRIM 95) provides the best agreement with the experimental results for all projectile and target combinations except the heavy ion-light target combination where it underestimates the stopping power data in the limited range of energy of the projectile. Mukherjee and Nayak ( Nucl. Instrum. Meth. 159, 421, 1979) formulation totally fails at relativistic and low energies of the projectile, irrespective of the projectile-target combination. Northcliffe and Schilling ( Atom. Data Nucl. Data Tables A7, 233, 1970) formulation does not show any particular trend. Benton and Henke ( Nucl. Instrum. Meth. 67, 87, 1969) formulation gives good agreement between experimental and theoretical data within the range of experimental error. The present study has been undertaken in order to determine the best stopping power and range formulation for calibration of solid state nuclear track detectors.