Energy Loss Measurements for Heavy Ions in Mylar and Polyethylene

Abstract

The energy loss of ${\mathrm{C}}^{12}$, ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}$, and ${\mathrm{Ne}}^{20}$ ions in passage through foils of Mylar and polyethylene has been investigated for incident ion energies of 10 Mev/amu and emergent ion energies in the region from 10 to 1 Mev/amu. The ion energies were measured with a magnetic spectrograph. The variation of emergent ion energy with absorber thickness (essentially the range-energy relation) is reported and compared with similar results for the same ions in aluminum. Within experimental error, the curves for Mylar and polyethylene differ from those for aluminum only in the scale of absorber thickness. For the same energy loss, the ratio of absorber thicknesses (in mg/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$) is 0.783 for Mylar to aluminum, and 0.692 for polyethylene to aluminum.