Neutralization Rates for Low-Energy Ions Scattered From Solid Surfaces

Calculations of the angular distributions of scattered ions were used to simulate impact collision ion scattering spectrometry (ICISS) experiments. The calculations were performed first for 2–keV Na+ ions incident on the Pt(111) surface in the <112> azimuth. The fitting of these calculations to the experimental data provided information about the surface structure of the sample and the trajectories of the incident ions. The inclusion of a first-order decay model for Auger neutralization with the calculations for Na+ allowed the simulation of 2-keV Ne+ ions in the ICISS mode on the same Pt surface. From these simulations it was possible to extract the Auger neutralization halflife for Ne+, found to be 1.30 ± 0.10 femtoseconds.