Interatomic potentials from rainbow scattering of keV noble gas atoms under axial surface channeling

For grazing scattering of keV Ne and Ar atoms from a Ag(1 1 1) and a Cu(1 1 1) surface under axial surface channeling conditions we observe well defined peaks in the angular distributions for scattered projectiles. These peaks can be attributed to “rainbow-scattering” and are closely related to the geometry of potential energy surfaces which can be approximated by the superposition of continuum potentials along strings of atoms in the surface plane. The dependence of rainbow angles on the scattering geometry provides stringent tests on the scattering potentials. From classical trajectory calculations based on universal (ZBL), adjusted Moliere (O'Connor and Biersack), and individual interatomic potentials we obtain corresponding rainbow angles for comparison with the experimental data. We find good overall agreement with the experiments for a description of trajectories based on adjusted Moliere and individual potentials, whereas the agreement is poorer for potentials with ZBL screening.