Stopping powers for channeled helium ions in silicon using electron densities from bandstructure calculations

Stopping powers for channeled He ions have been calculated with a modified version of the Monte Carlo code LAROSE [J.H. Barrett, Phys. Rev. B 3 (1971) 1527]. The spatial distribution of the valence electron density in Si was obtained from bandstructure calculations. The stopping power was calculated using Lindhard's free-electron gas approach within the framework of the local density approximation. Spatial variations of the electron density along individual trajectories produce a significant contribution to the energy loss distribution. The average energy loss of 4 MeV He ions channeled in the axial 100, 111 and 110 directions have been calculated and compared with measured values. The contribution of the core electrons to the energy loss is investigated by adding the spherically symmetric Hartree-Fock-Slater electron densities of the closed shells to the valence electron density. Calculations show a high energy loss tail in the spectrum qualitatively in agreement with published experimental results.