A new calculation on the stopping power and mean free path for low energy electrons in toluene over energy range of 20–10 000 eV

A new calculation of the stopping powers (SP) and inelastic mean free paths (IMFP) for electrons in toluene at energies below 10 keV has been presented. The calculation is based on the dielectric model and on an empirical evaluation approach of optical energy loss function (OELF). The reliability for the evaluated OELFs of several hydrocarbons with available experimental optical data has been systematically checked. For toluene, using the empirical OELF, the evaluated mean ionization potential, is compared with that given by Bragg's rule, and the calculated SP at 10 keV is also compared with the Bethe−Bloch prediction. The present results for SP and IMFP provide an alternative basic data for the study on the energy deposition of low-energy electrons transport through toluene, and also show that the method used in this work may be a good one for evaluating the SP and IMFP for hydrocarbons.