Electromagnetic interaction models for Monte Carlo simulation of protons and alpha particles

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive electromagnetic interaction model for protons and alpha particles suitable for Monte Carlo simulations, incorporating detailed scattering and inelastic collision descriptions based on advanced atomic physics models.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, detailed model for electromagnetic interactions in Monte Carlo simulations, combining screening effects, atomic electron distributions, and empirical inelastic scattering models.

Findings

Accurate differential cross sections for elastic collisions with screening effects.

Analytical sampling method for inelastic collision interactions.

Integration of atomic physics models with Monte Carlo simulation techniques.

Abstract

Electromagnetic interactions of protons and alpha particles are modeled in a form that is suitable for Monte Carlo simulation of the transport of charged particles. The differential cross section (DCS) for elastic collisions with neutral atoms is expressed as the product of the DCS for collisions with the bare nucleus and a correction factor that accounts for the screening of the nuclear charge by the atomic electrons. The screening factor is obtained as the ratio of the DCS for scattering of the projectile by an atom with a point nucleus and the parameterized Dirac-Hartree-Fock-Slater (DHFS) electron density, calculated from the eikonal approximation, and the Rutherford DCS for collisions with the bare point nucleus. Inelastic collisions, which cause electronic excitations of the material, are described by means of the plane-wave Born approximation, with an empirical simple model of the generalized oscillator strength (GOS) that combines several extended oscillators with resonance energies and strengths determined from the atomic configurations and from the empirical mean excitation energy of the material. The contributions from inner subshells are renormalized to agree with realistic ionization cross sections calculated numerically from the DHFS self-consistent model of atoms by means of the plane-wave Born approximation. The resulting DCS allows analytical random sampling of individual hard inelastic interactions.