Abstract
The skipping motion of ions in grazing scattering from the LiF(001) surface is studied for velocity below 0.1 a.u. with a time-of-flight technique. It is demonstrated that suppression of electronic excitation and dominance of optical phonon excitation in the projectile stopping results in an odd progression of the energy loss peaks, a feature usually ascribed to subsurface channeling. The experimental findings are well reproduced by parameter-free model calculations where thermal vibrations are the dominant cause for the ion trapping and detrapping.
- Received 18 April 2000
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3137
©2000 American Physical Society