A. Arnau et al., PHASE EFFECT IN THE ENERGY-LOSS OF HYDROGEN PROJECTILES IN ZINC TARGETS, Physical review. B, Condensed matter, 49(10), 1994, pp. 6470-6480
We present an experimental and theoretical study of the phase effect i
n the energy loss of fast hydrogen beams colliding with gas and solid
zinc targets. The experiments show a maximum phase effect of 50% aroun
d 50 keV/u, the energy loss per atom in the solid target being smaller
than in the gas target. An extensive theoretical study of all the pro
cesses contributing to the energy loss in the two phases shows that th
e experimental findings can be explained primarily by the screening of
the projectile field by the valence electrons in the solid.