1997 NORANDA-AWARD-LECTURE CHEMICAL APPLICATIONS OF ELECTRON-MATTER INTERACTIONS - FROM PROBING LOW-TEMPERATURE INDUSTRIAL PLASMAS AND ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT-SAFE FREON SUBSTITUTES TO ENHANCING NOVEL SURFACE-REACTIONS ON METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS

Since the discovery of the electron by Sir Joseph John Thomson a centu ry ago, the limitless applications of the electron in chemistry have b een both profound and fun. We present recent results from two of our e xperiments that involve such applications of the electron beam in the study of new aspects of gas-phase chemical physics and of surface chem istry. In particular, our precise measurements of momentum-transfer-re solved ''absolute'' excitation transition probabilities of the low-lyi ng transitions in ''environment-safe'' Freon substitutes using a high- energy electron beam are finding applications in the modelling of low- temperature industrial plasma and atmospheric processes. The use of lo w-energy electrons as a powerful in situ means to activate and to prob e ''novel'' surface reactions, including oxide and carbide formation a nd CO oxidation, has been demonstrated on Cu(100) and Si(111) surfaces . These experiments further illustrate the value and the enormous pote ntial of technological payoffs of electron-based fundamental research.