Glancing-angle scattering of fast ions at crystal surfaces

Glancing angle scattering of fast ions from a single crystal surface is a novel technique to study ion-surface interaction. Results of recent studies of ion-surface interaction are reviewed for ions with velocities faster than the Fermi velocity of solid. For the ions with velocities less than the Fermi velocity of target valence electrons the ion-surface interaction shows a new aspect where only the valence electrons of target solid participate in the stopping processes. It will show that the position-dependent stopping power of a surface for these ions governed by the elastic collisions of valence electrons and the ions. A method is proposed from this position-dependent stopping power to derived the electron density distribution averaged over the plane parallel to the surface. (author)