Studies of the Nature of Chemisorption Bond Using Very Low Energy Ion Beam: N⁺ on CO/Ni(100) and CO/Cu(100)

Abstract

Ion-neutralization and ion-molecule reaction of N⁺ with CO molecules adsorbed on Ni(100) and Cu(100) have been studied at the ion energy of 10 eV. In the N⁺-CO/Ni(100) system, no product ion was observed and the ion-neutralization process was found to be dominant. In the N⁺-CO/Cu(100) system, O⁺ and CO⁺ were detected and the ion-neutralization cross section was found to be much smaller than that in N⁺ on CO/Ni(100). These results are explained by the different magnitude of the back donation in the chemisorption bond of CO on metals. This explanation is supported by observing the N⁺ collision on CO/K/Cu(100).