Neutralization rate for slow Ar ions in front of KCl(0 0 1)

Charge state distributions of reflected ions are measured when 5 keV Ar^q+(q = 0?2) ions are incident on a clean KCl(0 0 1) surface at grazing angle, θ_i. Although the charge state distribution does not depend on the incident charge state at larger θ_i, significant dependence of the charge state distribution on incident charge state is observed at smaller θ_i. The ionization of Ar⁰ is completely suppressed at θ_i < 20 mrad, while large neutralization probability is observed for Ar⁺ incidence. These features allow us to derive the position-dependent neutralization rate of Ar⁺ in front of KCl(0 0 1). The obtained neutralization rate decreases exponentially with distance from the surface as it is usually assumed.