Threshold effect in the energy loss of slow protons and deuterons channeled in Au crystals

Measurements of the energy loss of protons and deuterons channeled in a very thin single-crystal foil of gold were performed, covering the range of very low velocities. The experimental results provide clear evidence of the deviation of the energy loss from the proportionality with ion velocity predicted theoretically, showing a transition between two well-defined regimes. We explain this behavior by a theoretical analysis that takes into account the electronic band structure properties of the medium, separating the contribution of the conduction band (described as a free Fermi gas) from the contribution of the nearly free d electrons of gold, which are affected by a threshold behavior due to the shift of the density of states of this band with respect to the Fermi level. The theoretical model yields a very good description of the experimental findings.