ELECTRONIC INTERACTIONS AND NUCLEAR-SCATTERING EFFECTS IN THE STOPPING POWER OF CARBON FOR FRAGMENTED H-2(+) PROJECTILES

The stopping power of amorphous carbon for fragmented swift H-2(+): mo lecular ions has been carried out using a Molecular Dynamics code to f ollow the trajectory of each fragment proton as it moves through the t arget. We consider the interaction of each proton with the target elec trons, the Coulomb repulsion between both protons and the vicinage eff ects due to the wake potential created by its partner proton. The nucl ear scattering with the target nuclei was also taken into account usin g a Monte Carlo simulation code. The stopping ratio distribution of th e proton fragments has been obtained as a function of the incident ene rgy and target thickness. Comparison of the calculated mean stopping r atio with experimental data shows a good agreement. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.