HOLLOW ATOM DYNAMICS ON LIF COVERED AU(111) - ROLE OF THE SURFACE ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURE

We report on measurements of the hollow atom dynamics on a clean and L IF covered Au(111) surface. The KLL-Auger spectrum arising from grazin g incidence 6 keV O7+ projectiles is monitored as a function of the Li F coverage up to 1 monolayer. As the coverage increases, we observe a strong reduction in the above-surface component of the KLL-Auger emiss ion. The astonishing similarity, with respect to KLL-Auger emission, b etween a single LiF monolayer on Au(111) and a LiF bulk surface, indic ates that the large band gap of the latter is not the limiting factor in the neutralization of highly charged ions. [S0031-9007(98)06822-7].