Vibrations and sticking

Abstract

The sticking of a particle on a surface requires ultimate dissipation of the translational energy via the phonon bath. This may occur via a direct transfer of energy to phonons on impact but also via a complex route involving some form of intermediate behaviour. This article outlines some ways in which vibrational degrees of freedom influence the sticking behaviour of systems with different types of interactions. These include resonant and non-resonant phonon processes in physisorption systems, rotational-vibrational coupling in non-dissociative chemisorption systems and the influence of molecular vibrations in dissociative chemisorption.