Paper SS-TuP36
Mass Ratio Effects in Hyperthermal Surface Scattering

Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 6:00 pm, Room Central Hall

The forward scattering of heavy ionic projectiles from oriented crystal surfaces gives evidence of collective effects that are far more pronounced than those seen in scattering of light ionic projectiles. For example, molecules containing heavy atoms such as XeF₂ are known to initiate novel surface chemistry effects. To study these kinematic trends, MD and trajectory simulations were performed for hyperthermal energy ions. By sequentially increasing the mass of the projectile across the periodic table, we have observed energy and angle resolved trends that show a clear deviation from standard scattering events, which are typically interpreted as sequential binary collisions. The simulation results were compared to experimental data for alkali ions on metal surfaces, specifically for the cases of K⁺ and Cs⁺ scattered from Cu(001).