We show how the electronic stopping power for slow protons is influenced by the deceleration and deflection of the projectile in the field of the target nucleus (Coulomb effect) and by the fact that in insulators a finite energy is also required for excitation of the outermost electrons (threshold effect). Estimates are derived from the Fermi-Teller description of the stopping process, from a modified local-density approximation, and from measured inner-shell ionization cross sections. It is found that the introduction of an energy threshold reduces at low energies the stopping cross section by a large factor and hence leads to an appreciable deviation from $v_1$ proportionality.

• Received 12 August 1985

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.33.1646