Dechanneling of heavy charged particles in diamond lattices

Abstract

Dechanneling rates of 1.5 MeV protons, deuterons and helium ions in the ⟨100⟩ axial and {110} planar channels are obtained by analysing their back-scattering energy spectra for the aligned and random directions. The experimental dechanneling rates in the axial channels, inclusive of those in Si, Gap, NaCl, KCl, and KBr single crystals, follow a universal expression for the dechanneling which is derived using the diffusion model according to the Lindhard's theory. Comparing with the theory, the contribution of the electronic collisions to the dechanneling is separated from the contribution of the nuclear collisions. The experimental value of the electronic contribution agrees well with the theoretical value. The experimental value of the nuclear contribution is smaller than the theoretical value by a factor of about 3. The discrepancy between the experimental and the theoretical value of the nuclear contribution is discussed.