Multiphonon atom-surface scattering from corrugated surfaces: derivation of the inelastic scattering spectrum for diffraction states

A strictly quantum mechanical derivation of the energy and parallel momentum resolved scattering spectrum formula that combines the effects of the diffraction of atoms from corrugated surfaces and multiple inelastic scattering by dispersive phonons is presented. The final result is expressed in the compact and numerically tractable form of a Fourier transform of a cumulant expansion in which each term embodies an interplay between the processes of projectile diffraction and multiphonon scattering to all orders in the respective interaction potentials. The Debye-Waller reduction of the intensities of diffraction peaks is explicitly formulated. (paper)