UV-laser-induced desorption of NO from Pt(111)

Abstract Ultraviolet-laser-induced desorption of NO molecules from a Pt(111) surface is investigated at 80 K by state-selective detection. We find two distinctive desorption channels are operative on an as-adsorbed surface and a surface annealed at 220 K. Rotational energy distributions are Boltzmann on as-adsorbed Pt(111) and non-Boltzmann on annealed Pt(111) with inverted population of spin-orbit states. Rotational, vibrational, and translational temperatures of NO from an as-adsorbed surface are increased with the incident photon energy. The effect of the adsorption state on desorption and the desorption mechanism are discussed.