Rainbow Scattering from Graphene

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation of atomic rainbow scattering of Xe+ ions through graphene, revealing complex rainbow patterns explained by simulations of projectile trajectories and collisions.

Contribution

It presents the first experimental observation of atomic rainbow scattering from graphene, supported by simulations elucidating the underlying collision mechanisms.

Findings

Identification of small hexagonal inner rainbow pattern

Observation of larger circular outer rainbow pattern

Agreement between experimental data and simulation results

Abstract

We report the experimental observation of atomic rainbow scattering of 40 keV Xe$^+$ ions transmitted through self-supporting single-layer graphene using time-of-flight medium energy ion scattering. Supported by molecular dynamics and binary collision approximation simulations, we show that the rainbow pattern of graphene consists of a small hexagonal inner rainbow, arising from projectiles with characteristic trajectories interacting with multiple carbon atoms, and a larger circular outer rainbow, arising from close binary collisions between projectiles and individual carbon atoms.