Counting individual atom layers in graphite - high-resolution RBS experiments on HOPG (highly ordered pyrolytic graphite)

The paper reports about recent experiments on HOPG (highly oriented pyrolytic graphite) by high-resolution RBS (Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy). By using an ion beam of 1 MeV N+ up to 7 individual monolayers could be identified in the RBS spectrum from such a sample. This is about twice as much as observed by other groups up to now. Since close to the surface the RBS peaks from the individual carbon layers are well separated, various quantities important for the ion-solid interaction can be determined with high precision, such as the stopping power of 1 MeV N ions in graphite and their energy straggling. Close to the surface the RBS peaks are asymmetric which is well explained in the framework of the Landau theory of energy straggling