Collision of H+ + CH4 at 30 eV: A simulation study

The process of proton impinging upon CH4 molecule has been theoretically studied at 30 eV. The study is based on time-dependent local density approximation coupled with molecular dynamics model. The electronic density evolution, ionic motion, and the scattering angle are presented. We found that the mechanism of target ionization in present simulation is electron capture. The predicted rainbow angle is in good agreement with experiments and previous calculations. By comparing the scattering angle from present calculation with that from classical collision, we found that the nuclear stopping is dominant in small impact parameters, and the discrepancy in large impact parameters may be due to the neglect of electronic stopping in classical collision.