Hydrogen atom scattering from physisorbed overlayers: II. A different kind of resonance crossing

Measurements and calculations of resonances in the scattering of H atoms from a Xe monolayer on graphite are presented. At the crossing of two resonances, we observe a splitting which is qualitatively different from those previously known and from the predictions of first-order theories. Its behaviour is explained when coupling through continuum states is included in a second-order theory. Because of this effect, data taken along a symmetry direction do not, in some cases, show resonance features expected from the commonly used zeroth- or first-order theories and therefore contain less information about the bound states than, for example, azimuthal scans.