Resonantly stimulated desorption of pyridine from silver surfaces by polarized infrared laser radiation

Resonantly excited desorption of pyridine molecules adsorbed on silver surfaces at 95 K has been observed. The strong dependence of the laser-induced desorption on the laser wavelength and the polarization of the incident radiation clearly show that molecular vibrational activation plays a major role in the observed desorption phenomenon. The desorption yields per laser pulse are also determined from the thermal desorption spectra and the x-ray photoemission-spectroscopy intensity analyses. © 1982 The American Physical Society.