Simulation of secondary electron yields from thin metal foils after fast proton impact

Differential and total inelastic cross sections are derived for the interaction between fast protons and Cu. The calculations are done under the non-relativistic plane-wave first-Born approximation and the dielectric theory. A semi-empirical optical oscillator strength density function and a simple linear-momentum dispersion algorithm are used to construct the energy loss function or Bethe surface of the medium. A transport model using these inelastic cross sections is implemented in the Monte Carlo code PARTRAC to simulate the spectra of secondary electron emissions from this homogeneous and isotropic thin copper foil target. Comparisons with experimental results show general agreement for impact energies >50 eV up to non-relativistic values. The model, however, overestimates the secondary electron yields at lower energies.