Effect of translational and vibrational energy on adsorption: The dynamics of molecular and dissociative chemisorption

The dominant features of the molecule–surface potential energy surface which governs the dynamics of molecular and dissociative chemisorption are probed by molecular beam techniques coupled to electron spectroscopy. The collision energy and the vibrational energy of the incident adsorbate are the convenient probes of the interaction potential and high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy is the sensitive and chemically specific detector...