Energy transfer of keV Ne atoms to the lattice of a LiF(001) surface under channeling

Abstract

The energy loss of neutral Ne atoms with keV energies scattered under a glancing angle of incidence from a flat LiF(001) surface is investigated by means of a time-of-flight method. Under these scattering conditions, i.e., surface channeling, electronic excitations of the insulator surface as well as charge-exchange processes play a negligible role, so that the elastic energy transfer of projectiles to atoms of the target surface can be studied. Our data are interpreted by Monte Carlo computer simulations based on quantum-chemical interaction potentials. The simulations show that thermal vibrations of lattice atoms play an important role for a quantitative description of projectile energy loss under channeling. From our simulations we derive a surface Debye temperature of 250′50 K for the LiF(001) surface.