2026/03/31 by Evgeniia Ponomareva, Artur Tamm, Andrea E. Sand
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic and Molecular Physics #Ion-surface interactions and analysis #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #physics.comp-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2026.156906
published as Ponomareva, E., Tamm, A., & Sand, A. E. (2026). Ab initio informed electronic stopping models for light ion propagation in metals. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 156906
openalex publication_date 2026/07/14 · openalex created_date 2026/07/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23 · arxiv created 2026/07/29 · arxiv updated 2026/07/30
Understanding ion-matter interactions at the atomistic level is key to advancing materials for the semiconductor industry, space systems, and nuclear fusion technologies. However, most atomistic frameworks still rely on simplified descriptions of how ions transfer energy to the electronic subsystem, overlooking the sensitivity of this process to the actual ion path. Existing electron-ion interaction models, such as the tensorial unified two-temperature model, were developed to study self-irradiation scenarios, but their suitability for light-ion irradiation remains unexplored. Here, we propose that for light projectiles, stepping back from the tensorial formulation toward a simpler, local model of electronic stopping provides a more efficient and physically transparent trajectory-dependent description. We parameterize and validate both models for hydrogen and helium in tungsten using ab initio electronic stopping data and large-scale ion range simulations, benchmarked against existing experimental data. This provides a consistent framework for including nonadiabatic electronic stopping in atomistic simulations of light-ion energy dissipation.