Monte Carlo calculations of low-energy electron dose-point-kernels in water using different stopping power approximations

The spatial distribution of absorbed energy in irradiated matter can be conveniently described by dose-point-kernel (DPK) distributions that characterize the average energy deposition around single charged-particle tracks during their slowing down process. In the present work, electron DPKs in liquid water in the energy range from 100 eV to 10 key are presented based on Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport in the continuous-slowing-down-approximation (csda). Elastic collisions are individually simulated using the screened Rutherford formula, whereas the energy loss from inelastic interactions is determined from stopping power (SP) theory. Along with the standard Bethe SP formula we examine different empirical expressions of general-use which are meant to improve the performance of the Bethe formula at low electron energies. Comparison is also made with a recent Bethe-type parametric expression obtained from a dielectric optical data model of liquid water. Our findings indicate that for electron energies below similar to 1 keV the discrepancies between the DPKs calculated by the general-purpose SP formulae become apparent. Moreover, the results obtained by the empirical expressions compare rather poorly with those from the dielectric model over the entire energy range examined. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.