Incident beam diffraction in electron stimulated desorption

We describe a new experimental technique utilizing incident beam diffraction in electron stimulated desorption (ESD) to determine the initial atomic bonding structure of desorbates. Diffraction in ESD can provide detailed information about the ground state surface bonding geometry of the absorber with sub-angstrom resolution of bond vectors. We discuss the role of electron diffraction in ESD, and demonstrate these ideas with experimental measurements of Cl+ ion ESD from chlorinated Si(111)-(7×7) and (1×1) surfaces.