INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS OF INVESTIGATION

Surface analysis by low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy

A. B. Tolstoguzov^abc, P. Yu. Babenko^d, A. N. Zinoviev<sup>d

a</sup> Utkin Ryazan State Radio Engineering University
^b Zhuhai Tsinghua University Research Institute Innovation Center, Zhuhai
^c Centre for Physics and Technological Research (CeFITec), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
^d Ioffe Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg

Abstract: The physical processes underlying the technique that uses low-energy (0.5–5 keV) backscattered ions of noble gases (LEIS) and its hardware implementation are reviewed. The specific features of LEIS surface diagnostics, including the interpretation of energy spectra, quantitative elemental analysis, and options for studying the surface structure, the particle–surface interaction potential, and the presence of clusters in solid solutions, are discussed. Software codes for computer modeling of ion–surface interaction processes are presented. The advantages of energy-mass analysis of scattered ions are considered; the application of ion scattering in state-of-the-art ion microscopes is discussed, and the scattering of noble gas ions in the hyperthermal energy range is examined. The main areas of LEIS application for the analysis of the surface and near-surface layers of various materials and devices are overviewed, and the prospects for further development of low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy are assessed.

Keywords: surface diagnostics, ion scattering, neutralization, dispersion, fast ionized recoil atoms, energy-mass analysis, hyperthermal energy, ion microscopes.

PACS: 34.35.+a, 68.49.Sf, 79.20.Rf

Received: January 13, 2025
Revised: September 23, 2025
Accepted: September 24, 2025

DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2025.09.040043

 English version: DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2025.09.040043