Efficiency enhancements to Monte Carlo simulation of heavy ion elastic recoil detection analysis spectra

Monte Carlo (MC) simulation can be used to simulate heavy ion elastic recoil detection analysis spectra, including the broadening and tailing effects of multiple and plural scattering, although it is very costly in terms of computer. time. In this work, kinematic relationships and experimental parameters are exploited to implement efficiency improvements in the MC modeling process. For thin films, incident ions that pass through the sample Without undergoing a significant scattering event need not be tracked. Ions that might generate a detectable scattered or recoiled ion are predicted by generating, in advance, the impact parameters which will define its path. Light recoiled target atoms may be dealt with in the same way. For heavy atoms, however, the probability of large angle scattering events is so high that the paths of most recoil atoms are dominated by several scattering events with large angular deflections. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.