Electronic stopping power of diamond for electrons and positrons

We assess a new data set of mass electronic stopping powers of diamond for electrons and positrons.

To this end, an optical energy-loss function (OELF) for this material is generated from available

experimental dielectric properties of the valence band and photoabsorption mass attenuation

coefficients, supplemented with a Drude-type analytical expression to interpolate at intermediate

energies. From this synthetic OELF, a mean excitation energy equal to (88.5±2.0) eV is extracted and

the density-effect correction is evaluated using Fano’s simplified method. These quantities then allow

calculating the mass electronic stopping power of diamond for electrons and positrons by means of

the relativistic Bethe formula. The present results for 1 keV–1 GeV electrons in diamond are 0.9%–

3.3% smaller than those corresponding to graphite as tabulated in ICRU Report 90.