Reconstruction of heterogeneous single-channel neutralization kinetics by the method of fast-ion grazing scattering from metal surfaces

A method is suggested for the unambiguous reconstruction of the heterogeneous slow-ion neutralization kinetics near the surface of a conductor. The method is based on the special features of fast ion grazing scattering with above-thermal energies of translational motion along the normal. It is shown that the angular distributions of fast particles reflected from the surface are related to the slow-ion neutralization rate by a simple algebraic expression. The method allows the reconstruction of the coordinate dependence for the neutralization rate and the interaction potentials. Its possibilities are demonstrated by the example of neutralizing fast He$^+$ ions (ion energies $E_1\approx2$ keV and glancing angles $\theta _0\approx 0.5^\circ\div0.8^\circ$) scattered from the A1(111) surface.