${\rm C}^+_{60}$ IONS IN COLLISIONS WITH CRYSTALLINE SURFACES: KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS

Abstract

Collisions of [Formula: see text] ions with surfaces of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), diamond (111) and heteroepitaxial fullerite films on mica in the impact energy range between 100 and 1500 eV are studied by mass, energy, and angle resolved time-of-flight mass spectrometry. For the graphite and diamond surfaces, highly inelastic scattering has been observed. The analysis of the velocity dependence of the scattered ions reveals that the normal and tangential component of the ion velocity have different significance for the collision dynamics. The normal component of the velocity appears to determine the amount of energy transferred into vibrational and deformational energy of the projectile and target. The final kinetic energy is independent of the impact energy for impact angles of ≈20° and impact energies between 140 and 450 eV. This observation can be explained by the existence of an upper bound of the final kinetic energy that is defined by the amount of energy stored in the deformed molecule without being deposited or destroyed. The tangential component is partially transformed into rotational energy of the [Formula: see text] in the collision with the surface, as may be explained by a simple rolling ball model. In contrast, scattering from heteroepitaxial fullerite films is nearly elastic for impact energies up to 230 eV and impact angles of about 20°. Additionally, the velocity distributions reveal a low velocity component. Its relative intensity increases with increasing impact energy and remains the only feature in the velocity distribution for impact energies higher than 290 eV. This component is due to sputtering of surface molecules. The angular dependent intensities of the fast ions exhibit a rich structure. This can be attributed to rainbow scattering, as confirmed by classical trajectory and molecular dynamics calculations with different levels of sophistication. These calculations also show that linear collision sequences along the closed packed rows of the fullerite surface may be generated as the result of the [Formula: see text] impact. A detailed study of these collision sequences by molecular dynamics calculations reveals that rainbow effects might be possible when these sequences are defocused due to thermal motion of the surface molecules. The contribution of this process to the measured velocity and angular distributions is discussed.