Abstract
Ion-surface collision studies at low kinetic energies (1-100 eV) provide a unique opportunity for investigating reactions and collision dynamics at surfaces. A special ion optics system for generating an energy- and mass-selected ion beam of this energy is designed and constructed. An ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) reaction chamber, in which the ions generated from the beamline collide with a solid surface, is equipped with Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS) as in-situ surface analytical tools. The resulting beam from the system has the following characteristics : ion current of 5-50 nA, energy spread < 2eV, current stability within ${\pm}5%,$ and unit mass resolution below 20 amu. The performance of the instrument is illustrated with data representing the implantation behavior of $Ar^+$ into a graphite (0001) surface.