Stopping cross sections for α particles from 1.0 to 8.5 MeV in H 2, He, N 2, O 2, Ne, Kr and Xe

Abstract

Stopping cross sections for α particles from 1.0 to 8.5 MeV in H 2, He, N 2, O 2, Ne, Kr and Xe are presented. Natural α particles were used from the decay of 212Bi and 212Po, and the energy loss measurements were made by varying the source-to-detector distance in a differentially pumped gas-cell system. Measured values including Lewis and multiple scattering corrections are fitted to a semi-empirical range-energy function with three parameters. Deviations for all the data points from the fitted curves are shown, and the stopping power results are determined with an accuracy from 0.3 to 5%. Comparisons are made with previous stopping cross section measurements and the agreements are briefly discussed.