A QMD description of the interaction of ion beams with matter

Heavy-ion collisions can be simulated by means of comprehensive approaches, to include the many different reaction mechanisms which may contribute. QMD models and their relativistic extensions are examples of these approaches based on Monte Carlo techniques. In this paper are shown some results obtained by coupling a new QMD code, which describes the fast stage of ion-ion collisions, to the evaporation /fission/Fermi break-up and photon de-excitation routines present in the FLUKA multipurpose Monte Carlo transport and interaction code. In particular, we compare the predicted neutron spectra to available experimental data from thin and thick target irradiations. We show also some predictions of particle and charged fragment fluences for the interaction of C and Fe ions with a thick PMMA target, which may be useful to assess the risk of side-effects in the hadron therapy of tumours.