Abstract
We report the first subpicosecond time-resolved study of a simple chemical reaction occurring on a well-defined surface in UHV. We have observed that CO molecules are desorbed from a Cu(111) surface <300 fs after the surface is irradiated with 100-fs, 620-nm optical pulses. The results are noteworthy in two major regards. First, although subpicosecond time-resolved probes of surfaces have been used successfully to measure excited-surface-state lifetimes,1 phase transitions,2 and excited vibrational lifetimes of adsorbates,3 our experiment is the first to time-resolve a laser-induced surface chemical reaction.
© 1991 Optical Society of America
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