Energy transfer processes and surface corrugation: A combined collision dynamics and experimental study of the Xe—GaSe(001) system Original Research Article

The scattering of Xe atoms from GaSe(001) has shown interesting features that can enlighten the energy exchange mechanism when a soft and corrugated surface is involved. A comparison with the flat metal surfaces shows very distinct behavior. We investigate the Xe—GaSe direct inelastic collisions by using a semi-classical collisional method and a three-dimensional energy surface derived from the physical properties of the interacting partners. It emerges a strong coupling between the energy exchanged parallel and perpendicular to the surface with an important role played by the conversion between the components of the momentum of the Xe atom during the collision. These features compare well with the experimental evidence.