Nuclear Stopping

Abstract

Nuclear stopping, i.e., energy transfer to recoiling nuclei, accounts for less than 0.05 % of all energy loss at projectile speeds above the orbital velocities of the majority of target electrons. Conversely the effect becomes dominating when the majority of electronic excitation channels is closed. Figure 4.2 indicates that the regime of dominating nuclear stopping typically lies within the velocity range $v<v_0$ except for rather heavy ions ($Z_1\gtrsim60$ and 40 for $Z_2=$79 and 6, respectively). Therefore, nuclear stopping is of minor importance in numerous situations considered in this monograph. On the other hand, unlike electronic collisions, recoil events are accompanied by angular deflection of the projectile that affects range and energy-deposition profiles as well as the analysis of stopping measurements. ...