The vibrational relaxation of molecules adsorbed at metal surfaces is considered to be relatively fast and thus examples of vibrationally induced chemistry at surfaces are rare. The adsorption and subsequent desorption of long-lived vibrationally excited CO molecules from a gold surface have now been observed, suggesting that vibrational promotion of surface chemistry might be more prevalent than currently thought.
- Pranav R. Shirhatti
- Igor Rahinov
- Alec M. Wodtke
