Quantum-dynamical model for thermal desorption of gases from solid surfaces

Abstract

The Montroll–Shuler model for the kinetics of dissociation of a diatomic molecule in a heat bath is adapted to thermal desorption of gases from solid surfaces. The rate constant k_MS is compared with that predicted by transition‐state theory, k_TST, and that extracted from experimental data for the system Xe/W. A central feature of the present model is that k_MS shows a strong explicit dependence (ϑ⁻³_D in the Debye approximation) upon the lattice dynamics, whereas k_TST has none at all.