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Science 26 May 2000:
Vol. 288. no. 5470, pp. 1402 - 1404
DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5470.1402
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Reports

Real-Time Observation of Adsorbate Atom Motion Above a Metal Surface

Hrvoje Petek, *dagger ddagger Miles J. Weida, Hisashi Nagano, Susumu Ogawa

The dynamics of cesium atom motion above the copper(111) surface following electronic excitation with light was studied with femtosecond (10-15 seconds) time resolution. Unusual changes in the surface electronic structure within 160 femtoseconds after excitation, observed by time-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy, are attributed to atomic motion in a copper-cesium bond-breaking process. Describing the change in energy of the cesium antibonding state with a simple classical model provides information on the mechanical forces acting on cesium atoms that are "turned on" by photoexcitation. Within 160 femtoseconds, the copper-cesium bond extends by 0.35 angstrom from its equilibrium value.

Advanced Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd., Hatoyama, Saitama 350-0395, Japan.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: petek{at}pitt.edu

dagger    Present address: Department of Chemical Physics, Fritz-Haber Institute, Faradayweg 4-6, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.

ddagger    Permanent address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.

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