Low-energy (10-keV) recoil scattering is proposed as a tool for measurement of adsorbate positions on monocrystalline surfaces. This technique, which makes use of high-energy-recoil adsorbate atoms (energy ≥ 1 keV), supplies real-space structure information. Its potentialities are illustrated in a study of the adsorption system H on (111) sites of Pt. By exploiting surface channeling of incident 10-keV Ne ions on vicinal Pt surfaces we show unambiguously that H occupies fcc-type adsorption sites on Pt(111) terraces.

• Received 26 November 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.56.1152