Scattering of Noble Gas Ions from a Si(100) Surface at Hyperthermal Energies (20-300 eV)

In an attempt to understand the nature of hyperthermal ion-surface collisions, noble gas ion beams (He+, Ne+, Ar+, and Xe+) are scattered from a Si(100) surface for collision energies of 20-300 eV and for 45°incidence angle. The scattered ions are mass-analyzed using a quadrupole mass spectrometer and their kinetic energy is measured in a time-of-flight mode. The scattering event for He+ and Ne+ can be approximated as a sequence of quasi-binary collisions with individual Si atoms for high collision energies (Ei > 100 eV), but it becomes of a many-body nature for lower energies, Ar+ and Xe+ ions undergo mutliple large impact parameter collisions with the surface atoms. The effective mass of a surface that these heavy ions experience during the collision increases drastically for low beam energies.