Simulation of the energy loss of proton beams interacting with few layer graphene foils

Abstract

We have simulated the passage of proton beams, having energies E < 10 keV, through graphene targets, considering the case of few layer foils. For this purpose and for comparison, we implement Monte Carlo and deterministic semi-classical approaches to describe the interaction of protons with carbon atoms in graphene structures. Our results show that the energy loss through a single layer graphene foil is smaller than recent ab initio calculations based on time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). Besides, for E > 6 keV the energy loss into a graphene target composed of n layers is n times the energy loss through a single layer graphene foil.