Abstract

Nagging questions about the fundamental interactions of atoms, ions, and electrons with surfaces persist despite the signal successes of recent years in unraveling complex structural molecular chemistry at surfaces. The solution of the prototypical surface physics problem—the behavior of a hydrogen atom in the vicinity of a surface—remains elusive. Detailed understanding of dynamical processes at surfaces will clearly require measurements in which all relevant quantum numbers, including electron and nuclear spin, are specified before and after the surface interaction.

© 1985 Optical Society of America