Spatiotemporal Patterns of External Noise-Induced Transitions in a Bistable Reaction-Diffusion System: Photoelectron Emission Microscopy Experiments and Modeling

Abstract

The rate of CO oxidation on Ir(111) surfaces exhibits bistability at T=500 K in a range of the CO fraction Y in the CO+O reactant gas flux. Measured CO2 rates as a function of the noise strength imposed on Y are well reproduced by parameter-free modeling. We present photoelectron emission microscopy measurements and 2D calculations of the spatiotemporal patterns of CO- and O-rich domains. The role of combined multiplicative and additive noise on Y for CO and O domain wall motion and island nucleation-growth-coalescence processes is analyzed.