Helium, neon and argon diffraction from Ru(0001)

Fully Ab Initio Approach to Inelastic Atom-Surface Scattering

We introduce a fully ab initio theory for inelastic scattering of any atom from any surface exciting single phonons, and apply the theory to helium scattering from Nb(100). The key aspect making our approach general is a direct first-principles evaluation of the scattering atom-electron vertex. By correcting misleading results from current state-of-the-art theories, this fully ab initio approach will be critical in guiding and interpreting experiments that adopt next-generation, nondestructive atomic beam scattering.

Anomalous KCl(001) Surface Corrugation from Fast He Diffraction at Very Grazing Incidence

We present theoretical and experimental evidence of an anomalous surface corrugation behavior in He-KCl(001) for incidence along ⟨110⟩. When the He normal energy decreases below 100 meV, i.e., He-surface distances Z>2  Å, the corrugation unexpectedly increases up to an impressive ≳85%. This is not due to van der Waals interactions but to the combination of soft potential effects and the evolution of He-cation and He-anion interactions with Z. This feature, not previously analyzed on alkali-halide surfaces, may favor the alignment properties of weakly interacting overlayers.

Performance of van der Waals DFT approaches for helium diffraction on metal surfaces

The ability of the different approaches proposed to date to include the effects of van der Waals (vdW) dispersion forces in density functional theory (DFT) is currently under debate. Here, we used the diffraction of He on a Ru(0 0 0 1) surface as a challenging benchmark system to analyze the suitability of several representative approaches, from the ones correcting the exchange-correlation generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional, to the ones correcting the DFT energies through pairwise-based methods. To perform our analysis, we have built seven continuous potential energy surfaces (PESs) and carried out quantum dynamics simulations using a multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method. Our analysis reveals that standard DFT within the PBE-GGA framework, although it overestimates diffraction probabilities, yields the best results in comparison with available experimental measurements. On the other hand, although several of the existing vdW DFT approaches yield physisorption wells in very good agreement with experiment, they all seem to overestimate the long-distance corrugation of the PES, the region probed by He scattering, resulting in a large overestimation of diffraction probabilities.

Coherence-Length Effects in Fast Atom Diffraction at Grazing Incidence

Coherence properties of projectiles, found relevant in ion-atom collisions, are investigated by analyzing the influence of the degree of coherence of the atomic beam on interference patterns produced by grazing-incidence fast-atom diffraction (GIFAD or FAD). The transverse coherence length of the projectiles, which depends on the incidence conditions and the collimating setup, determines the overall characteristics of GIFAD distributions. We show that for atoms scattered from a LiF(001) surface after a given collimation, we can modify the interference signatures of the angular spectra by varying the total impact energy, while keeping the normal energy as a constant. Also, the role played by the geometry of the collimating aperture is analyzed, comparing results for square and circular openings. Furthermore, we study the spot-beam effect, which is due to different focus points of the impinging particles. We show that when a region narrower than a single crystallographic channel is coherently illuminated by the atomic beam, the spot-beam contribution strongly affects the visibility of the interference structures, contributing to the gradual quantum-classical transition of the projectile distributions.

Separation of Isotopes in Space and Time by Gas-Surface Atomic Diffraction

The separation of isotopes in space and time by gas-surface atomic diffraction is presented as a new means for isotopic enrichment. A supersonic beam of natural abundance neon is scattered from a periodic surface of methyl-terminated silicon, with the ^{20}Ne and ^{22}Ne isotopes scattering into unique diffraction channels. Under the experimental conditions presented in this Letter, a single pass yields an enrichment factor 3.50±0.30 for the less abundant isotope, ^{22}Ne, with extension to multiple passes easily envisioned. The velocity distribution of the incident beam is demonstrated to be the determining factor in the degree of separation between the isotopes' diffraction peaks. In cases where there is incomplete angular separation, the difference in arrival times of the two isotopes at a given scattered angle can be exploited to achieve complete temporal separation of the isotopes. This study explores the novel application of supersonic molecular beam studies as a viable candidate for separation of isotopes without the need for ionization or laser excitation.