  We compare the electron dynamics at monocrystalline Cu(111), Au(100) and
Pd(111) precursor substrates with vicinal nanosteps. The unoccupied bands of a
surface superlattice are populated \textit{via} the resonant charge transfer
(RCT) between the surface and a H$^-$ ion that flies by at grazing angles. A
quantum mechanical wave packet propagation approach is utilized to simulate the
motion of the active electron where time-evolved wave packet densities are used
to visualize the dynamics through the superlattice. The survived ion fraction
in the reflected beam generally exhibits modulations as a function of the
vicinal terrace size and shows peaks at those energies that access the image
state subband dispersions. However, differences in magnitudes of the
ion-survival as a function of the particular substrate selection as well as the
ion-surface interaction time based on the choice of two ion-trajectories are
examined. A square well model producing standing waves between the steps on the
surface explains well the energies of the maxima in the ion survival
probability for all the metals considered, indicating that the primary process
of confinement induced subband formation is rather robust. The work may
motivate measurements and applications of shallow-angle ion-scattering
spectroscopy to access electronic substructures in periodically nanostructured
surfaces.
