Reactive ion surface scattering as an Eley-Rideal process: a molecular dynamics study into the abstraction reaction...

We have employed a classical molecular dynamics simulation for the direct pick-up reaction of adsorbates by very low energy (1-60 eV) ions scattered at a surface. The system investigated is the reactive ion scattering (RIS) of Cs+ with an adsorbate on a Pt(111) surface. The ion-dipole attraction between the projectile and the physisorbed adsorbate drives the abstraction reaction, in which the ion projectile at first collides with the surface to release a substantial amount of its kinetic energy, and subsequently pulls the adsorbate along in the outgoing trajectory. Desorption induced by the ion-dipole attraction is a precursor to the formation of the Cs(+)-adsorbate product. This Eley-Rideal-type mechanism must accommodate the inertia of the adsorbate. Consequently, a successful abstraction works well only for low mass adsorbates and slow outgoing Cs+ ions. The efficient energy transfer to the Pt(111) surface makes Cs+ a better candidate for RIS than lighter projectile ions. Optimal conditions for the efficient RIS abstraction mechanism are found for physisorbed adsorbates with a mass below 32 amu, and for 10 eV Cs+ ions at a 45 degrees incidence.