Abstract

Recently considerable interest has developed in the use of intense laser radiation to desorb molecular monolayers at surfaces. In addition to the importance of this effect for fundamental investigations of energy flow in absorbed molecules, laser-induced desorption has been applied to the study of surface reactions and surface diffusion.¹ To date, however, no direct measurements of the dynamics of the process of laser-induced desorption have been performed. In this paper, we present experimental results on the desorption of a monolayer of dye molecules monitored on a picosecond time scale by means of surface second-harmonic generation (SHG).²

© 1986 Optical Society of America