Surface photochemistry 15: On the role of substrate excitation

Abstract

The rates of photodissociation and photodesorption of dioxygen adsorbed on Ag (110) under ultraviolet irradiation have been measured as a function of polarization at normal incidence. No dependence of the rate was found on the angle between the O2 bond axis and the electric vector of the incident light. This result supports a mechanism for surface photochemistry in which substrate excitation is the dominant process.