Trajectory dependence of electronic energy-loss straggling at keV ion energies

We measured the electronic energy-loss straggling of protons, helium, boron and silicon ions in silicon using a time-of-flight approach. Ions with velocities 0.25 - 1.6 times the Bohr velocity were transmitted through single-crystalline Si(100) nanomembranes in either channelling or random geometry to study the trajectory dependence of energy-loss straggling. Nuclear and path length contributions were determined with the help of Monte Carlo simulations. Our results exhibit an increase in straggling with increasing ion velocity for channelled trajectories for all projectiles as well as for protons and helium in random geometry. For heavier ions, electronic straggling at low velocities does not decrease further but plateaus and even seems to increase again. A satisfying agreement between experiment and transport cross section calculations for helium shows that energy deposition of light ions is dominated by electron-hole pair excitations. No agreement is found for boron and silicon indicating that local electron-promotion and charge-exchange events significantly contribute to energy loss at low velocities.