Energy losses of charged particles moving parallel to the surface of an overlayer system

Abstract

An energetic charged particle moving parallel to the surface of an overlayer system was studied. This system was composed of a thin film on the top of a semi-infinite substrate. Based on the dielectric response theory, the induced potentia I was formulated by solving the Poisson. equation and matching the boundary conditions. The stopping force was built-up using the energy-momentum conservation relations and the extended. Drude dielectric functions with spatial dispersion. Surface (vacuum-film) and interface (film-substrate) excitations were included in the formulations of the interaction between charged particles and the overlayer system. Results of the wake potential were presented for protons moving parallel to a vacuum-copper-silicon system. Dependences of the induced potential and the stopping force on film thickness, distance of the proton from surface, and proton velocity were investigated. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.