Dissociative Grazing Scattering of H 2 + Ions from Metal Surfaces

Energy distributions of H atoms resulting from grazing scattering of H 2 + from metal surfaces are calculated analytically and by using classical trajectories simulations. The main mechanism leading to dissociation of H 2 +is proposed to be dissociative capture of an electron from the metal into the antibonding state of the H 2 molecule. It is shown that the energy distributions of scattered atoms yield information of both the molecular axis orientation and the vibrational excitation of the molecules during the scattering process.