Velocity dependence of heavy-ion stopping below the maximum

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In the slowing-down of heavy ions in materials, the standard description by Lindhard and Scharff assumes the electronic stopping cross section to be proportional to the projectile speed v up to close to a stopping maximum, which is related to the Thomas–Fermi speed vTF. It is well known that strict proportionality with v is rarely observed, but little is known about the systematics of observed deviations. In this study we try to identify factors that determine positive or negative curvature of stopping cross sections on the basis of experimental data and of binary stopping theory. We estimate the influence of shell structure of the target and of the equilibrium charge of the ion and comment the role of dynamic screening.