PNNL

Abstract

The adsorption dynamics and desorption kinetics of Ar and CH4 on MgO(100) are studied using a combination of molecular beam scattering and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). Both Ar and CH4 exhibit an initial trapping probability that decreases dramatically with increasing kinetic energy and is independent of incident angle indicating a barrier-less process obeying total energy scaling. The trapping probability for both systems increases roughly linearly with increasing adsorbate coverage in the first layer. Analysis of the TPD spectra yields desorption energies of 8.5 and 13 kJ/mole for Ar and CH4, respectively.