Molecular-orbital theory for the stopping power of atoms in the low velocity regime:the case of helium in alkali metals

A free-parameter linear-combination-of-atomic-orbitals approach is presented for analyzing the stopping power of slow ions moving in a metal. The method is applied to the case of He moving in alkali metals. Mean stopping powers for He present a good agreement with local-density-approximation calculations. Our results show important variations in the stopping power of channeled atoms with respect to their mean values.