MeV heavy ion stopping power measurements using NSC Pelletron

Surface modification and characterization are being undertaken increasingly using the MeV heavy ion beams. Interpretation of such data requires reliable and precise values of stopping powers involved. Sufficient data exists above 2.5 MeV/n but less information is available at lower energies. The present series of experiments report the results of stopping power measurements for various ion species between Z = 8 and 29, covering the energy range ∼ 0.2-1.0 MeV/n in carbon. The elastic recoil ion detection system provided a unique method to generate variety of variable energy ion species utilising a fixed energy heavy (Z = 47, 53, 79) projectile beam from the NSC Delhi 15 MV Pelletron facility. The data has been compared with available theoretical and semi-empirical fitting treatments. Relative merits and demerits of these formulations have been highlighted. Future projections to our line of investigation have been indicated in the light of some recent innovative theoretical predictions.