A Cu(100) surface has been investigated by means of time-of-flight low-energy ion scattering using 4 He + ions.Polar and azimuth scans have been performed. The evaluation of the obtained spectra demonstrates the influence of background contributions to the overall yield. Selection of single scattering processes was achieved by background subtraction. This allows for high surface sensitivity even for neutral scattering spectra.
Low-energy ion scattering is very surface sensitive if scattered ions are analyzed. By time-of-flight (TOF) techniques, the neutral and the charge-integrated spectra
(ions plus neutrals) are obtained, which yield information about deeper layers. It is well known that charge integrated spectra may exhibit a surface peak which is
more pronounced for heavier projectiles, e.g., Ne ions. Aiming at a more profound physical understanding of this surface peak, we performed TOF experiments and
computer simulations for H, He, and Ne projectiles scattered from a polycrystalline copper target. Measurements were done in the range of 1–9 keV for a scattering
angle of 129° under UHV conditions. The simulations were performed using the MARLOWE code for the given experimental parameters and a polycrystalline target. In
the experiments, a pronounced surface peak was observed at low energies, which fades away at higher energies. This peak is quantitatively reproduced by the
simulation. Several atomic layers may contribute to the surface peak, depending on the energy. Analyzing the contributions of the individual outermost atomic layers,
one finds that the binary collisions of the projectiles with atoms in the first and the second layer yield a narrow energy distribution, while the contribution from the
deeper layers is dominated by multiple scattering and therefore exhibits a very broad energy spectrum. It is shown that the appearance of a more or less pronounced
surface peak is due to the relative contributions of single scattering and multiple scattering and thus depends on the projectile energy and mass
Angular scans were performed for a Cu(100) single crystal and He + ions. The results were compared to MARLOWE, KALYPSO and FAN simulations to obtain information on the interaction potential. The influence of the used evaluation procedure on the deduced scattering potential was investigated. The scattering potential is found to be weaker than what is predicted by an uncorrected TFM potential. It was found that the use of a single screening correction factor is applicable in a wide range of impact parameters. It is further shown that selection of single scattering trajectories and a limitation of information depth to the surface layers is possible for neutral and charge integrated spectra.
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