Accurate simultaneous lead stopping power and charge-state measurements in gases and solids: Benchmark data for basic atomic theory and nuclear applications

We have measured for the first time simultaneously both the mean charge states and stopping powers of (35-280) MeV/u 208Pb ions in gases and solids with an accuracy of 1%. The existence at lower energies and disappearance at higher of density effects in the charge-state distribution and the corresponding stopping power are directly confirmed and comparisons with widely used theories and simulations for heavy ions demonstrate strong deviations of up to 27%. However, an unprecedented prediction power of better than 3% has been achieved for the energy loss when the measured mean charge-states are implemented in the Lindhard-Sorensen theory. Our present benchmark data contribute to an improved understanding of the basic atomic collision processes and to numerous applications in nuclear physics. Extending the GANIL data [1] to higher accuracy and energies, we can now answer at which velocities the Bohr-Lindhard density effect in stopping will vanish. (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons .org /licenses /by /4 .0/). Funded by SCOAP3.