Crystallographic effects in low energy ion scattering due to local ion-atom neutralisation

New experiments on 1 keV ₄He⁺ ion scattering from Ni {100} and Ni {100} (√2 × √2)R45°?O surfaces show azimuthal anisotropies attributable to variations in ion neutralisation probability for different ion trajectories relative to the position of the surface atoms. These effects are shown to be compatible with a simple localised ion-atom neutralisation mechanism. The results indicate that local neutralization is an important process in substrate shadowing in low energy ion scattering studies of adsorbate structures.     

Element-selective spin polarization analysis of surfaces by spin-polarized ion scattering spectroscopy

We discuss the validity of surface spin polarization analysis with element selectivity using spin-polarized ion scattering spectroscopy (SP-ISS). We examined the control of the incident ⁴He⁺ spins and successfully conducted magnetic hysteresis measurement on an Fe(100) surface. The spin polarization of the Fe(100) surface exposed to O₂ atmosphere measured by spin-polarized ion neutralization spectroscopy was consistent with that reported by spin-polarized metastable de-excitation spectroscopy. The element selectivity of SP-ISS is discussed in terms of ion neutralization, re-ionization, and multiple scattering.     

Convoy electrons produced at glancing angle scattering of MeV HeH+ ions from a crystal surface

Abstract

Convoy electrons produced at glancing angle scattering of MeV HeH⁺ ions from an atomically clean (001) surface of SnTe crystal are observed. Energy spectrum of the convoy electrons shows a peak broader than that at scattering of atomic projectiles and the most probable energy of convoy electrons at HeH⁺ scattering is larger than those at scattering of isotachic He ions. This acceleration of convoy electrons is qualitatively explained by the force due to surface wake induced by Coulomb exploding fragment He²⁺ and H⁺.     

Multiple scattering features in argon and helium Ion Scattering Spectra (ISS) from polycrystalline materials

Multiple ion scattering from polycrystalline materials was studied by ion scattering spectrometry using ⁴He⁺ and ⁴⁰Ar⁺ at a scattering angle of 90° over an energy range of 0.1–2.5 keV. It was found that the high energy shoulder on the single scattering peak caused by multiple collisions increased in intensity with increasing energy, generally following the same trend as found earlier for neon scattering. The separation of the shoulder from the single scattering peak decreased linearly with increasing target atomic number and increased in direct proportion to the atomic number of the bombarding ion. Linear extrapolation of data from ⁴He, ²⁰Ne, and ⁴⁰Ar allows calculation of shoulder position for heavier gases such as krypton and xenon.     

Exit angle dependence of charge-state distribution of backscattered He ions

Exit angle and energy dependences of the charge-state distribution of backscattered He ions were investigated when 500 keV He⁺ ions were incident on SiO₂. The energy dependence of the He⁺ fraction was estimated by comparing the measured He⁺ spectra with the simulated spectra of He ions in all charge states at the exit angles of 5-25° with respect to the SiO₂ surface. We found that the He⁺ fraction is almost independent of the exit angle at energies higher than 250 keV and the observed energy dependence of the He⁺ fraction is in good agreement with that for the carbon-foil-transmission experiment. In the low energy region (<250 keV), however, the He⁺ fraction decreases as the exit angle decreases.     

Neutralization of low energy helium ions scattered from Au adatoms on Si(111)-√3 × √3-Au

The neutralization of 5 keV He⁺ ions scattered from Au adatoms on the Si(111)-√3 × √3-Au surface was studied by impact-collision ion-scattering spectroscopy (ICISS). The He⁺ ICISS data contained false shadowing features that were actually the result of local neutralization effects. The radially dependent ion-atom neutralization theory of Woodruff, when used in our simulations of the ion scattering results, was reasonably successful in describing the neutralization of the He⁺ ions by the Au atoms. Good agreement for both the [112&#x0304;] and [1&#x0304;10] azimuths was obtained for a neutralization rate R = A exp(− ar), where A and a are 15.5 fs⁻¹ and 1.94 Å⁻¹ , respectively. An Auger neutralization model assuming a planar ion-solid interaction surface was also tested, yielding much poorer agreement.     

Yields of H+ and He+ at the energy for elastic scattering from H2+3He+ incident on Ag and Pd

Yields, Y, of H⁺ and He⁺ emerging specularly with the energy for single binary elastic collisions have been measured from polycrystalline Ag and Pd surfaces bombarded with mixed monoenergetic (300 < E₀ < 2600 eV) beams of H₂⁺³He⁺ impinging at an angle of 45° from the surface normal. The surfaces were exposed to H₂⁺ at a dynamic pressure of 8 × 10^?3 Pa (6 × 10^?5 Torr) during the measurements. The He⁺ yields from Pd are slightly larger than from Ag, and the H⁺ yields from Pd are 10 to 40 times as large as those from Ag. These results suggest that differences between Pd and Ag in the amount of hydrogen adsorbed and in the character of the hydrogen-metal bond may be responsible for the yield differences through shadowing by, and possibly the sputtering of, adsorbed hydrogen. The Y versus E₀ curves for all four systems have qualitatively the same singly peaked shape which implies that reactive and noble gas ions undergo similar neutralization processes during elastic surface collisions. The ratios of the yields from Ag and Pd do not exhibit the theoretically expected exponential dependence on collision time over the entire range studied, but at the lowest energies the ratios lead to estimates of the difference of neutralization constants which do agree with theory. The potential utility of the large difference in proton yields from Ag and Pd for studying the Ag-Pd alloy system is noted.     

The determination of interatomic potentials from the extrema in differential cross sections

A new method for determining interaction potentials from the positions of the extrema in interference patterns in atomic scattering is applied to ⁴He-⁴He and ⁴He⁺-⁴He scattering. The new computed potentials for ⁴He⁺-⁴He confirm that in most collisions the atoms follow the diabatic rather than the adiabatic potential.     

Electronic absorption spectrum of CO+ in an ion beam

The He+He⁺¹ interactions have been studied, as a function of the internuclear separation R, in terms of the electronic forces acting on the nuclei and the change in the charge distribution. The analysis reveals that at large R the atomic densities are polarized inwards, causing an attractive force on each nucleus, while at small R the difference in the nature of the interactions in the ²Σ_u and ²Σ_g systems is noted. It is seen that the He+He⁺¹ (²Σ_u) interaction is less attractive than the He⁺¹+He⁺¹ interaction at lower values of R.     

Fragmentation of polyatomic ions produced by electron-loss collisions of butane and isobutane molecules with ions of kiloelectronvolt energy

Fragmentation accompanying the loss of electrons by butane and isobutane (C₄H₁₀) molecules in collisions with energy H⁺, He²⁺, and Ar⁶⁺ ions of kiloelectronvolt energies is studied. The electron density functional technique is applied to C _n H_2n+2 alkane molecules and their respective C _n H _2n+2 ⁺ ions to carry out quantum-chemical calculations of the atomic spacing, electron total energy for the initial configuration of the ionizing molecules and ions in the ground state, and atomic bond breaking energy necessary to produce different ion fragments. The fragmentation energy is correlated with the fragmentation probability. It is shown that the relative cross sections of ion fragmentation depend primarily on the related energy consumption. However, the process cross section is also strongly affected by the initial configuration of C₄H₁₀ isomer molecules, as well as by the amount of dangling and arising atomic bonds involved in the formation of each ion fragment.     

Electron-spin-dependent 4He+ ion scattering on Bi surfaces

We studied low-energy (～ 1.55 keV) electron-spin-polarized ⁴He⁺ ion scattering on a Bi(111) ultrathin film epitaxially grown on a Si(111) substrate. We observed that the scattered ion intensity differed between the incident He⁺ ions with up and down spins even though Bi is a non-magnetic element. To analyze the origin of this spin-dependent ion scattering (the spin asymmetry), we investigated the detailed relationship between the spin asymmetry and the incident angle, the azimuthal angle, the scattering angle, and the incident energy. All the data indicate that the spin asymmetry originates from the scattering cross section owing to the non-central force in the He⁺–Bi atom binary collision. The non-central force is most likely attributed to the spin–orbit coupling that acts transiently on the He⁺ 1s electron spin in the binary collision.     

Reconstruction of heterogeneous single-channel neutralization kinetics by the method of fast-ion grazing scattering from metal surfaces

A method is suggested for the unambiguous reconstruction of the heterogeneous slow-ion neutralization kinetics near the surface of a conductor. The method is based on the special features of fast ion grazing scattering with above-thermal energies of translational motion along the normal. It is shown that the angular distributions of fast particles reflected from the surface are related to the slow-ion neutralization rate by a simple algebraic expression. The method allows the reconstruction of the coordinate dependence for the neutralization rate and the interaction potentials. Its possibilities are demonstrated by the example of neutralizing fast He⁺ ions (ion energies E₁≈2 keV and glancing angles θ₀≈0.5°–0.8°) scattered from the A1(111) surface.     

Exchange and nuclear symmetry interference in He+-He scattering

A method is described to determine the potential difference, V _g-V _u, that will accurately reproduce the exchange and nuclear symmetry oscillations observed by Aberth et al. in their experimental work on He⁺-He differential scattering. It is demonstrated that at higher energies and angles the experimental results for ⁴He⁺-⁴He, ⁴He⁺-³He and ³He⁺-³He appear incompatible with one another when investigated in terms of a two-state scattering theory. This is an indication that at these energies and angles the theory may require modification to include the effects of coupling to higher states.     

Metastable helium cluster He<Stack><Subscript>4</Subscript><Superscript>*</Superscript></Stack>

The existence of a metastable cluster He ₄ ^* with total spin S = 2 is predicted. The cluster consists of two covalently bound excited spin-polarized triplet He ₂ ^* molecules and is rectangular in shape. The electron wavefunctions, the dependence of the energy He ₄ ^* system on the distance between the He ₂ ^* triplet molecules, the atomic spacing, the frequency spectrum of natural oscillations of the cluster, and other characteristics are calculated from first principles. It is shown that the metastable state is formed if one of the excited He ₂ ^* molecules is in the ³Σ _u ⁺ state, while the other is in the ³Π_g state. The radiation lifetime τ of the metastable cluster He ₄ ^* is calculated; it is found to range from 100 to 200 s, which is much longer than the lifetime τ ≈ 20 s of the triplet molecule He ₂ ^* (³Σ _u ⁺ ). The height U ≈ 0.5 eV of the potential barrier preventing the departure from the local energy minimum is determined. The energy E_acc ≈ 9 eV/atom accumulated in the He ₄ ^* cluster is calculated; this energy considerably exceeds the energy of known chemical energy carriers. It is shown that the accumulated energy is released virtually completely during decomposition of the He ₄ ^* cluster into individual helium atoms. This means that helium clusters are a promising material with a high accumulated energy density (HEDM).     

Surface composition modification of tungsten higher oxide under He<Superscript>+</Superscript> ion bombardment

The surface reduction of higher oxide WO₃ under irradiation by He⁺ ions with the energies 1 and 3 keV in a high vacuum is investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that lower WO₂ and intermediate WO _x (2 < x < 3) oxides form first in WO₃ surface layers under He⁺ ion bombardment, and with an increase in the irradiation dose metallic tungsten forms. It is shown that the degree of irradiated oxide surface metallization increases with an increase in the energy of the bombarding He⁺ ions. A comparison of WO₃ oxide surface composition modification under He⁺ and Ar⁺ ion irradiation is presented.     

Dissociative excitation due to collisions of electrons and helium ions with oxygen molecules

The absolute cross sections of luminescence related to atomic and ionic oxygen at dissociative excitation through e-O₂ and He⁺-O₂ collisions are determined. An intense OII line (83.4 nm) is discovered. For e-O₂ collisions, a weak OIII line (70.5 nm) is found. Experimental data for He⁺-O₂ collisions are qualitatively interpreted in terms of the quasi-diatomic approximation.     

Binding Energies and Scattering Observables in the 4He3 and 3He4He2 Three-Atomic Systems

The asymmetric ³He⁴He₂ three-atomic system is studied on the basis of a hard-core version of the Faddeev differential equations. Binding energy and scattering observables for this system are compared to previous results for the symmetric ⁴He₃ problem.     

Luminescence in collisions of low-energy ions with graphite and Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>

Excitation of H⁺, H₂ ⁺, H₃ ⁺, He⁺, and Ar⁺ ions by impact on graphite and Al₂O₃ was investigated by means of emission spectroscopy in the 50–1000 eV energy range of the projectiles. Emission of Balmer series from excited neutral hydrogen is observed for both targets. In addition, for the Al₂O₃ target a continuum emission is observed. The continuum probably originates from excited M_nO_m molecules produced in the collision cascade, when surface atoms bound by ionic bonds are released after the bond breaking caused by neutralization. The spectra obtained under Ar⁺ -bombardment show Ar II lines emitted by backscattered ions.     

The dynamics of He ion neutralization at a xenon film: Energy- and spin-resolved studies

The neutralization of He⁺ ions with energies in the range 10-500 eV at an adsorbed xenon layer is examined both by analyzing the energy distribution of electrons ejected from the surface and by use of spin-labeling techniques, specifically the use of electron-spin-polarized He⁺ ions coupled with measurement of the ejected electron polarization. The data indicate that neutralization proceeds via an Auger process similar to that which occurs at a clean high-work-function metal surface. At the higher ion energies, however, kinetic ejection becomes important and provides an increasing contribution to the total electron yield.