Theoretical stopping power of copper for protons using the shellwise local plasma approximation

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical calculation of proton stopping power in copper using the shellwise local plasma approximation, achieving good agreement with experimental data across a wide energy range.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed ab initio approach combining SLPA and Mermin dielectric function for accurate energy loss predictions in copper.

Findings

Excellent agreement with experimental data from 5 keV to 30 MeV.

First detailed shell-by-shell analysis of proton energy loss in copper.

Validation of the SLPA method for solid-state stopping power calculations.

Abstract

We present a theoretical study on the energy loss by protons in solid copper. The ab initio shellwise local plasma approximation (SLPA) is employed for the inner-shells, and the Mermin dielectric function for the valence electrons. The partial contribution of each sub-shell of target electrons is calculated separately, including the screening among the electrons of the same binding energy. Present results are obtained using the SLPA and the known Hartree-Fock wave functions for copper. The theoretical curves are compared with the experimental data available and with the semi-empirical srim08 values, showing very good agreement in a large energy region (5 keV-30 MeV).