Abstract

An infrared laser generated from a Nd:YAG laser mixing with a dye laser and operating in the 2–4–μm range with a 10-nsec pulse width has been used recently as a tunable laser source to photodesorb ammonia from a Cu(100) surface after excitation of the ν₃ mode.^1,2 Microsecond time-resolved quadruple mass spectrometry was successfully applied to detect the molecular desorption from a monolayer coverage on the metal surface after pulsed laser–adsorbate interaction. As recently reviewed by Chuang³ on aspects of laser-induced gas-surface interactions, studies of molecular-solid interactions at low temperatures with infrared lasers can indeed provide important insight into the dynamic processes on surfaces.

© 1984 Optical Society of America