Angular distributions in resonance electron scattering by oriented physisorbed molecules: [formula omitted

Abstract

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the angular distribution of electrons resonantly scattered by physisorbed O 2 Ag(110) . The shape of the angular distribution, obtained from high-resolution electron energy-loss spectra (HREELS), changes as the coverage is increased from the monolayer to the multilayer regime. With the aid of a classical model which takes into account both the azimuthal and polar orientation of the molecule with respect to the surface and employs structural parameters deduced from X-ray absorption experiments, we find that this result can be attributed to a change in orientation of the molecules in the multilayer compared with the monolayer regime.