Determination of Lattice Disorder Profiles in Crystals by Nuclear Backscattering

A detailed analysis is presented for the determination of lattice disorder in crystals by nuclear backscattering. By means of models and numerical integration, calculations are performed to determine, as a function of depth, the energy loss of projectiles in crystals, their critical angle for dechanneling, their nuclear elastic scattering cross section, and the effects of lattice disorder on the specific energy loss of channeled ions. These calculations are more detailed than those previously used. The efficacy of the analysis is tested with experiments at 1500 and 2500 keV, and it is shown that these detailed calculations are necessary to extract accurate lattice disorder profiles. The effects of misalignment of the target during channeling experiments are determined. The error introduced by misalignment can be made small.