Interatomic potentials between noble gas and Ag atoms from axial surface channeling

He, Ne, and Ar atoms with energies from 3 keV to 60 keV are scattered from a Ag(111) surface under axial surface channeling conditions. From peaked structures in the angular distributions owing to "rainbow-scattering" we derive effective scattering potentials. We compare the observed rainbow angles with results from computer simulations using different types of established interatomic potentials and focus on a detailed discussion for potential energies larger than 10 eV. It turns out that an approximation proposed by O'Connor and Biersack using a Moliere potential with an adjustment of the screening length [D.J. O'Connor, J.P. Biersack, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 15 (1986) 14) is in good agreement with the experimental data. In our simulations we investigate the sensitivity of the rainbow angles on a variation of the interatomic potential. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.