Abstract
Lateral hopping and desorption of a single CO molecule on a Cu(110) surface [Bartels et al., Science 305, 648 (2004)] induced by femtosecond laser pulses are studied using an indirect heat-transfer model. In addition to a direct heating of the reaction coordinate (RC) mode [frustrated translation (FT) mode for hopping and center-of-mass (CM) mode for desorption] by laser-generated hot electrons in the substrate, we consider an indirect heating of the RC mode through intermode coupling between the frustrated rotation (FR) mode and the RC mode. We calculate the transient behavior of the effective temperature of the FT and the CM modes, and of the normalized reaction yield. The experimental result of a ratio of the hopping yield along and across a row on a Cu(110) surface is nicely calculated. Although no information is available for the attempt frequency in a form of the Arrhenius equation for thermally activated reactions, it is predicted under which condition the desorption rate becomes in the same order of magnitude as the hopping rate, although the barrier height for desorption is much higher than for hopping. The present analysis highlights the role of excitation of the FR mode in reactions of a CO molecule as has been confirmed in the real-time observation [Backus et al., Science 310, 1790 (2005)].
Published Version
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