Auger neutralization of He ions at an Al(100) surface using isotope effect

He atoms and ions of the isotopes 3He and 4He are scattered with keV energies under a grazing angle of incidence from a flat and clean Al(100) surface. For the two isotopes we investigate Auger neutralization of incident He+ and He2+ ions via fractions of surviving ions. Pronounced effects for the different isotopes are observed which can be attributed to different time scales concerning the neutralization process of He ions in front of a metal surface. From the analysis of the data obtained for singly and doubly charged ions we find evidence that charge fractions for scattering of He+ ions from an Al surface result predominantly from a direct (Auger) electron capture event.