DAMAGE CROSS-SECTIONS AND SURFACE TRACK DIMENSIONS OF BIOMOLECULAR SURFACES BOMBARDED BY SWIFT-HEAVY-IONS

We measured damage cross sections of the peptide LHRH for various MeV ions with the same velocity and compared the data with simple hit theo ry calculations. We employed scanning force microscopy to measure dime nsions of surface tracks in amino acid L-valine induced by individual incident MeV ions of various stopping powers but with the same velocit y. Areas of surface tracks and damage cross sections showed linear dep endences on electronic stopping power. The area of a surface track of L-valine was significantly larger than previously obtained damage cros s sections of amino acids for similar incident ions.