title: Trails of kilovolt ions created by subsurface channeling.
abstract: Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we observe the damage trails produced by keV noble-gas ions incident at glancing angles onto Pt(111). Surface vacancies and adatoms aligned along the ion trajectory constitute the ion trails. Atomistic simulations reveal that these straight trails are produced by nuclear (elastic) collisions with surface layer atoms during subsurface channeling of the projectiles. In a small energy window around 5 keV, Xe+ ions create vacancy grooves that mark the ion trajectory with atomic precision. The asymmetry of the adatom production on the two sides of the projectile path is traced back to the asymmetry of the ion's subsurface channel.
authors.affiliation: II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Köln, Zülpicherstrasse 77, D-50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Redinger
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Standop
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Michely
authors.forename: Yudi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rosandi
authors.forename: Herbert M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Urbassek