Critical Cone in Phonon-Induced Desorption of Helium

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Abstract
A flash desorption technique is used to show that helium atoms desorbing from a hot surface are emitted within a narrow cone about the normal direction. The emission angle and the energy of the atoms are highly correlated, which results in a "rainbow" in the desorption spectrum. These effects are discussed in terms of single-particle conservation conditions for energy and momentum transfer between phonons and atoms.