Energy loss and transport parameters of ions from proton to uranium in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)

The exchange of energy between fast moving ions with matter is of crucial importance in nuclear physics, radiation shielding, and biomedical applications. In the present work, a systematic study of energy loss and transport parameters for ions ranging from protons to uranium ions traversing Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) has been carried out. Key interaction parameters, including ion energy, electronic stopping power, nuclear stopping power, projected range, longitudinal straggling, and lateral straggling, were calculated to quantify the ion-matter interaction mechanisms in PMMA. The results demonstrate a clear dependence of energy loss processes on the ions initial energy. Highly energetic ions predominantly lose energy through electronic stopping, resulting in larger projected ranges and relatively pronounced straggling. In contrast, low energy ions exhibit significantly enhanced nuclear stopping contributions, leading to reduced penetration depths and smaller longitudinal and lateral straggling. The calculated range and straggling parameters reveal a progressive increase in the spatial dispersion of ion tracks with increasing ion mass and charge. These findings provide illuminating revelations into ion transport behavior in polymeric media, which are beneficial for applications such as particle detector design, space and cosmic radiation shielding, ion-beam modification of polymers, and radiobiological dose estimation. The comprehensive dataset establishes PMMA as a reliable tissue-equivalent material for modeling ion-matter interactions over an extensive range of ion species.