NIEL for heavy ions: an analytical approach

Abstract

We describe an analytical model for calculating nonionizing energy loss (NIEL) for heavy ions based on screened Coulomb potentials in the nonrelativistic limit. The model applies to any incident ion on any target material where the Coulomb interaction is primarily responsible for atomic displacement. Results are compared with previous methods of extracting NIEL from Monte Carlo SRIM runs. Examples of NIEL calculations are given for incident ions having energies ranging from the threshold for atomic displacement to 1 GeV. The incident ions include H, He, B, Si, Fe, Xe, and Au. Example targets include Si, GaAs, InP, and SiC.