Stopping power determination of 4He and 1H in Sc, Gd and Yb using a bulk sample method

The accuracy of IBA experiments depends on many factors, of which counting statistics is often the least important. The nuclear data used in the data analysis have a direct influence in the results obtained with IBA experiments. Sometimes, the uncertainty in scattering cross sections or in stopping powers is taken as a systematic uncertainty. However, in techniques such as RBS, given the signal superposition of different elements, the uncertainty in the stopping power may have a non-linear effect in the uncertainty of the depth profiles obtained. The experimental database is sparse for some elemental targets, as is the case for many rare earths. We previously developed a method for stopping power determination based on measuring bulk spectra. We report on the application of the method to the determination of the stopping power of 4 He and 1 H in the rare earths Sc, Gd and Yb, using beam energies from 1 to 2.1 MeV.