Empirical stopping power tables for ions from 3Li to 18Ar and from 0.001 to 1000 MeV/nucleon in solids and gases

Abstract

We present a table of stopping powers for moderately heavy ions, based on our large collection of experimental stopping powers taken from the literature and on our program MSTAR. We divide the stopping powers for a particular ion (nuclear charge Z 1) by those for α particles in the same element, as given in ICRU Report 49. After proper normalization, we obtain a single curve S rel( E 1/ A 1), approximately independent of the target atomic number Z 2, where E 1 is the energy and A 1 is the mass number of the ion, if we treat solid and gaseous targets separately. These curves are then fitted by suitable functions of E 1/ A 1, and the fitting parameters can in turn be fitted by functions of Z 1. For solid targets, we can also determine a residual Z 2-dependence of S rel. Using MSTAR, we tabulate the stopping powers of the elements contained in ICRU Report 49, plus nickel, for ions from 3Li to 18Ar. A few tables for compound targets are also given. Numerical estimates of the accuracy of the tables are presented, based on comparisons to the data. We find that the error for solids is 1–2% at high energy and becomes as large as 10–20% at low energy. For gases, the error is slightly larger. Text files of all the data presented here, and additionally for B, Zr, and Ta targets, are available through the journal’s website.