Multiple scattering of low energy ions in matter: Influence of energy loss and interaction potential

In this paper, the effect of inelastic energy loss and interaction potential on transmitted ions at low energy is studied. For this purpose, angular distributions of slow He+ ions transmitted through thin Ag films are calculated using the theory of multiple scattering. Thin films (20-50 Å at 2 keV and 50-200 Å at 10 keV) are considered so that the total path length of transmitted ions can be approximated by the value of the target thickness in this calculation. The corresponding values of the relative energy loss ΔE/E are comprised between 0.04 and 0.17. We show that even if low values of the thickness are considered, the total energy loss of ions in the target should be included in the calculation. These calculated angular distributions are also influenced by the potential used to describe the interaction between the incident ion and the target atom.