Abstract

The surface field must play an important role in the reactivity of a surface. This effect can be probed in field ion emission experiments. First, the applied field in these experiments is an adjustable parameter and it is of the same order of magnitude as the surface field. Second, the size of a field ion emitter resembles well a dispersed catalytically active metallic particle. We report here a study of surface catalyzed formation of H₃, N₃ and NH₃ on various crystal planes of about 20 transition metals using pulsed-laser stimulated field desorption technique. In pulsed-laser stimulated field desorption, adsorbed surface species are first thermally desorbed by pulsed-laser heating of the surface. They are subsequently field ionized and detected.

© 1985 Optical Society of America