Interaction potentials for multi-electron atoms in front of a LiF (0 0 1) surface from rainbow scattering

Pairwise interaction potentials for multi-electron atoms moving in front of a LiF (0 0 1) surface are investigated theoretically and experimentally. From angular distributions of fast He, N, S, Cl and Kr atoms grazingly scattered under axial surface channeling conditions, rainbow angles are experimentally determined for a wide range of energies for the motion normal to the surface plane. These angles are used as a benchmark to probe the pairwise potential model. In the simulations the scattering process is described by means of the surface eikonal approximation, while the atom–surface interaction is derived by adding binary interatomic potentials that include the proper asymptotic limit.