Intra-atomic correlation effects in charge transfer

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the effects of intra-atomic correlation on charge-transfer processes in atom-surface scattering. Intra-atomic correlation effects can conveniently be described using projection operators and a non-equilibrium Green's function technique. In the low velocity regime, it can be proved that the populations of the atomic states can be calculated directly from the solution of a system of coupled master equations. We apply this formalism to some typical atom-surface scattering situations and show that proper account of intra-atomic correlation effects must be taken for an accurate description of the charge-transfer process.