ROTATIONAL EFFECTS IN THE DISSOCIATIVE ADSORPTION DYNAMICS OF HYDROGEN ON A PD SURFACE

We show that the recently observed nonmonotonous dependence of the ads orption probability of H-2/Pd(lll) on the initial rotational state j o f the impinging H-2 can be accounted for by considering the two factor s-Steering (Dynamical Reorientation) and Rotational-Translational Ener gy Transfer (Bond-Length Extension), and the importance of the inciden ce energy (velocity) of the impinging hydrogen molecule. Furthermore, we show that considerable isotope effects can be observed for the j-de pendence of the adsorption probability of hydrogen on Pd.