Soft X-ray spectroscopy of clusters, surfaces and interfaces

UNIEXP

Research

Ultrafast Dynamics

Chemistry at Surfaces ·

Chemistry at Surfaces

Most of the industrially relevant chemical reactions occur at surfaces and interfaces and one of the great challenges in surface chemistry is to capture and ultimately control the transition states active in surface reactions. By using time resolved XES and PES we monitor the electronic and geometric structural changes along the reaction path, probing therefore the reaction dynamics on the femtosecond time scale. This enables us to obtain a full picture of surface mediated chemical reactions.
We have studied by means of time resolved XES the liquid-liquid phase transition in silicon [1] and we are currently studying (within a “Surface Science collaboration” including several international institutes) the desorption and oxidation of CO molecules from Ru(0001) triggered by an optical laser pulse (400nm).

[1] Beye M. et al, PNAS 107(39) 16772 (2010)