Inelastic scattering of molecules from a liquid polymer surfaces

The (dissociative) scattering of CF + and CF ions from a perfluoropolyether is analyzed on the basis of the conservation laws of energy and momentum. The ion–surface collisions are treated as binary collisions between the primary ions and a representative group of the perfluoropolyether molecule. The energy partition between the two particles is analyzed on the basis of a statistical distribution between harmonic oscillators. The energy transfer between the individual atoms is treated as inelastic rovibrational excitation. This method not only allows us to draw some general conclusions concerning the dynamics of this type of molecule–surface collision, but also to estimate the dissociation probability of the scattered molecules as a function of the scattering angle and the energy loss.