Theoretical study of electronic energy loss recently observed in impact collision ion scattering of a low energy Li + from a TaB 2(0 0 0 1) surface

Abstract

Based on the Firsov model of electronic excitations in slow atomic collisions, a method to calculate the electronic energy loss is proposed. In this method, molecular orbital theory is employed in order to obtain the electronic excitation probability of a quasi-molecule between colliding atoms. Using this method, the electronic stopping power has been calculated for the case of the Li–B and Li–Ta collision pair, and the usefulness of this method has been verified by using the calculated stopping power in molecular dynamics simulations of an ion scattering experiment. The experimental observations are well explained by the theory.