Elastic and inelastic diffraction of fast neon atoms on a LiF surface

Journal article, 2023

Grazing incidence fast atom diffraction has mainly been investigated with helium atoms, considered as the best possible choice for surface analysis. This article presents experimental diffraction profiles recorded with neon projectile, between 300 eV and 4 keV kinetic energy with incidence angles theta i between 0.3 and 1.5 degrees along three different directions of a LiF(001) crystal surface. These correspond to perpendicular energy ranging from a few meV up to almost 1 eV. A careful analysis of the scattering profile allows us to extract the diffracted intensities even when inelastic effects become so large that most quantum signatures have disappeared. The relevance of this approach is discussed in terms of surface topology. We used the scattering profiles recorded along a random direction to deconvolute the diffraction profiles recorded along the [100] direction. The procedure was extended beyond the vertical dotted line corresponding to deeply inelastic conditions.