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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 73 » Issue 20
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 2768–2771 (1994)

Limitations of the Trajectory Approximation in Atom-Surface Scattering

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Christopher A. DiRubio*, David M. Goodstein, and Barbara H. Cooper
Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2501

Kieron Burke
Department of Physics and Quantum Theory Group, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118

Received 23 December 1993; published in the issue dated 14 November 1994

We have scattered low energy (100-400 eV) Na+ from a Cu(001) surface, and studied the peak in the energy spectra that corresponds to collisions in which the Na+ interacts primarily with a single Cu atom. This peak is broadened by the thermal fluctuations in the momentum of the Cu atom. Its width has been measured as a function of surface temperature, scattering geometry, and incident energy. Our data agree well with a rigorous statistical analysis (within 10%) but poorly with the trajectory approximation (TA), demonstrating that the TA can fail when recoil is substantial.

© 1994 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.73.2768
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.73.2768
PACS:
79.20.Rf, 03.65.Sq, 68.35.Ja

*Present address: Sandia National Laboratories, MS 0344, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185-0344.

 
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