Dynamical steering in an electron transfer surface reaction: oriented NO(v = 3, 0.08 < Ei < 0.89 eV) relaxation in collisions with a Au(111) surface

Nils Bartels; Kai Golibrzuch; Christof Bartels; Li Chen; Daniel J Auerbach; Alec M Wodtke; Tim Schäfer

doi:10.1063/1.4863862

Dynamical steering in an electron transfer surface reaction: oriented NO(v = 3, 0.08 < Ei < 0.89 eV) relaxation in collisions with a Au(111) surface

J Chem Phys. 2014 Feb 7;140(5):054710. doi: 10.1063/1.4863862.

Authors

Nils Bartels¹, Kai Golibrzuch¹, Christof Bartels¹, Li Chen², Daniel J Auerbach¹, Alec M Wodtke¹, Tim Schäfer¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Physical Chemistry, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Tammannstraße 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
² Department of Dynamics at Surfaces, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Faßberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.

PMID: 24511971
DOI: 10.1063/1.4863862

Abstract

We report measurements of the incidence translational energy dependence of steric effects in collisions of NO(v = 3) molecules with a Au(111) surface using a recently developed technique to orient beams of vibrationally excited NO molecules at incidence energies of translation between 0.08 and 0.89 eV. Incidence orientation dependent vibrational state distributions of scattered molecules are detected by means of resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization spectroscopy. Molecules oriented with the N-end towards the surface exhibit a higher vibrational relaxation probability than those oriented with the O-end towards the surface. This strong orientation dependence arises from the orientation dependence of the underlying electron transfer reaction responsible for the vibrational relaxation. At reduced incidence translational energy, we observe a reduced steric effect. This reflects dynamical steering and re-orientation of the NO molecule upon its approach to the surface.