Shape resonances, overtones, and electron energy loss spectroscopy of gas phase and physisorbed diatomic molecules

Abstract

Electron energy loss spectra of O2 and N2 physisorbed on metallic substrates showing a series of high overtone losses have recently been reported. In the case of N2, the intense overtone excitation is credited to the formation of a well-known temporary negative ion state with a resonance lifetime ∼10−15 s for gas phase N2−. The principal distinction between the gaseous and physisorbed molecule EELS spectrum is a significant depletion of the overtone intensity which has been attributed to a surface-induced decrease in the resonance lifetime. In the present work, a time dependent quantum mechanical model applicable to vibrational excitation in resonance scattering is outlined which quantitatively accounts for the observed spectra and, in particular, the surface modifications to the gas phase results. The essential feature of the model is one in which the intramolecular dynamics of the intermediate state is characterized by nuclear propagation over a harmonic potential curve spatially displaced from the ground state curve for a time duration equal to the resonance lifetime. The resulting calculated overtone spectra agree well with the experimentally observed ones. The results suggest that the physisorbed N−2 lifetime is about 40% of that of the free molecule.