Theoretical modeling of atom acceleration in the tracks of swift charged particles in irradiated insulators

Abstract

The process of track formation by swift charged particles in insulators is analyzed. It is shown that the ionization of deep electronic levels plays an essential role for track formation in irradiated materials with large atomic number. The model of atom acceleration in the core of the track has been developed which takes into account the degree of atom ionization depending on the distance from the track axis. In the framework of this model it is shown that the dependence of the total kinetic energy of accelerated atoms can be changed from ( Z 1 */ V) 4 at low energies to V 4 or Z 1 *4 at high energies where V is the velocity and Z 1 * is the effective charge of the projectile.