Analytic solutions for the probability of atomic surface recombination as a function of surface parameters

Abstract

In this work, asymptotic analytic solutions for the value of the recombination probability, γ, have been obtained in terms of the different surface parameters, such as activation energies and densities of adsorption sites. It is shown that γ can have very different dependencies with the wall temperature, Tw, which result from the competition between the Eley‐Rideal (E‐R) and Langmuir‐Hinshelwood (L‐H) mechanisms of recombination. In the model assumed here, E‐R recombination dominates both at low and high values of Tw, where γ essentially follows an exponential with Tw. However, at intermediate temperatures the influence of L‐H recombination may originate strong deviations from this exponential behavior.