Comprehensive study of the surface peak in charge-integrated low-energy ion scattering spectra

Abstract

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 $129\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ 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.