Orbit-integral corrections to the Lindhard atomic stopping power for classically scattered heavy atoms

Abstract

The differences between atom-atom differential scattering cross sections calculated by integration of the classical orbit equations, and those obtained from the universal curve of Lindhard, have been used to calculate corrections to the specific nuclear energy loss, ${\left(\frac{d\epsilon }{d\rho }\right)}_n$, as a function of the reduced energy $\epsilon$. The calculations have been performed both for the Thomas-Fermi (TF) interaction potential, which appears to be appropriate for gas scatterers, and for a finite-range Thomas-Fermi potential which may be more appropriate for scattering centers in a solid. For values of $\epsilon >0.1\mathrm{}$ the correction factor can be as small as 0.9. At lower values of $\epsilon$ the correction factor can be greater than unity for the infinite-range TF potential, but continues to decrease for all the finite-range calculations.