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A high dimensional and accurate atomistic neural network potential energy surface (ANN-PES) that describes the interaction between one O2 molecule and a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface has been constructed using the open-source package (aenet). The validation of the PES is performed by paying attention to static characteristics as well as by testing its performance in reproducing previous ab initio molecular dynamics simulation results. Subsequently, the ANN-PES is used to perform quasi-classical molecular dynamics calculations of the alignment-dependent scattering of O2 from HOPG. The results are obtained for 200 meV O2 molecules with different initial alignments impinging with a polar incidence angle with respect to the surface normal of 22.5° on a thermalized (110 and 300 K) graphite surface. The choice of these initial conditions in our simulations is made to perform comparisons to recent experimental results on this system. Our results show that the scattering of O2 from the HOPG surface is a rather direct process, that the angular distributions are alignment dependent, and that the final translational energy of end-on molecules is around 20% lower than that of side-on molecules. Upon collision with the surface, the molecules that are initially aligned perpendicular to the surface become highly rotationally excited, whereas a very small change in the rotational state of the scattered molecules is observed for the initial parallel alignments. The latter confirms the energy transfer dependence on the stereodynamics for the present system. The results of our simulations are in overall agreement with the experimental observations regarding the shape of the angular distributions and the alignment dependence of the in-plane reflected molecules.

Adsorption dynamics of N2 on the W(100) surface is studied by means of quasi-classical trajectories making use of a six-dimensional potential energy surface obtained from density functional theory calculations. In our simulations, van der Waals (vdW) interactions are accounted for by using the vdW-DF2 functional. In view of the comparison with experiments, we show that this leads to a good description of the adsorption dynamics, providing a significant improvement with respect to semi-local exchange-correlation functionals used in the past. Particular emphasis is placed on the description of nonactivated pathways, leading to either dissociation or molecular adsorption. Dynamics calculations are performed within the generalized Langevin oscillator (GLO) model in order to simulate the energy exchange between molecule and surface atoms. Electron-hole (e-h) pair excitations are also implemented in the dynamics via the local density friction approximation (LDFA). Overall adsorption probability, including dissociative and nondissociative mechanisms, is enhanced when molecules can lose energy through surface phonons and electronic excitations. However, the energy exchange with phonons has a larger influence in the adsorption probability than e-h pair excitations. Nondissociative molecular adsorption only takes place when such energy dissipation channels are included in the simulations, underlying the importance of GLO and LDFA models in such theoretical studies.

Adiabatic and nonadiabatic quasi-classical molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the role of electron-hole pair excitations in hot-atom and Eley-Rideal H2 recombination mechanisms on H-covered W(100). The influence of the surface structure is analyzed by comparing with previous results for W(110). In the two surfaces, hot-atom abstraction cross sections are drastically reduced due to the efficient energy exchange with electronic excitations at low incident energies and low coverage, while the effect on Eley-Rideal reactivity is negligible. As the coverage increases, the projectile energy is more efficiently dissipated into the other adsorbates. Consequently, the effect of electronic excitations is reduced. As a result, the reactivity and final energy distributions of the formed H2 molecules are similar for both abstraction mechanisms.

The reactive dynamics of N on W(100) has been investigated by means of quasi-classical trajectory calculations using an interpolated six-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) based on density functional theory energies obtained employing the vdW-DF2 functional. The dynamics are compared to those obtained using the PW91 functional and to experimental data. The results show that the new PES provides a significant improvement in the description of the reactivity in this system. We show that the long standing problem that constituted the large qualitative disagreement between the simulations performed with the PW91-PES and the experiments was due to the presence of energy barriers in the entrance channel that disappear when vdW forces are accounted for.

Adiabatic and non-adiabatic quasiclassical molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the role of the crystal face on hot-atom abstraction of H adsorbates by H scattering from covered W(100) and W(110). On both cases, hyperthermal diffusion is strongly affected by the energy dissipated into electron-hole pair excitations. As a result, the hot-atom abstraction is highly reduced in favor of adsorption at low incidence energy and low coverages, i.e., when the mean free path of the hyperthermal H is typically larger. Qualitatively, this reduction is rather similar on both surfaces, despite at such initial conditions, the abstraction process involves more subsurface penetration on W(100) than on W(110).

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we predict that the inclusion of nonadiabatic electronic excitations influences the dynamics of preadsorbed hydrogen abstraction from the W(110) surface by hydrogen scattering. The hot-atom recombination, which involves hyperthermal diffusion of the impinging atom on the surface, is significantly affected by the dissipation of energy mediated by electron–hole pair excitations at low coverage and low incidence energy. This issue is of importance as this abstraction mechanism is thought to largely contribute to molecular hydrogen formation from metal surfaces.

We study the dynamics of transient hot H atoms on Pd(100) that originated from dissociative adsorption of H2. The methodology developed here, denoted AIMDEF, consists of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations that include a friction force to account for the energy transfer to the electronic system. We find that the excitation of electron-hole pairs is the main channel for energy dissipation, which happens at a rate that is five times faster than energy transfer into Pd lattice motion. Our results show that electronic excitations may constitute the dominant dissipation channel in the relaxation of hot atoms on surfaces. © 2014 American Physical Society.

This book gives a representative survey of the state of the art of research on gas-surface interactions. It provides an overview of the current understanding of gas surface dynamics and, in particular, of the reactive and non-reactive processes of atoms and small molecules at surfaces. Leading scientists in the field, both from the theoretical and the experimental sides, write in this book about their most recent advances. Surface science grew as an interdisciplinary research area over the last decades, mostly because of new experimental technologies (ultra-high vacuum, for instance), as well as because of a novel paradigm, the ‘surface science’ approach. The book describes the second transformation which is now taking place pushed by the availability of powerful quantum-mechanical theoretical methods implemented numerically. In the book, experiment and theory progress hand in hand with an unprecedented degree of accuracy and control. The book presents how modern surface science targets the atomic-level understanding of physical and chemical processes at surfaces, with particular emphasis on dynamical aspects. This book is a reference in the field.

We study the dissociative dynamics of O2 molecules on the Ag(100) surface. Initially, the impinging molecules are either in the spin-triplet ground state or in the spin-singlet excited state. The molecule-surface interaction is obtained in each case by constructing the six-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) from the interpolation of the energies calculated with spin-polarized and non-spin-polarized density functional theories, respectively. Classical trajectory calculations performed in both PESs show that O2 molecules initially in the spin-triplet ground state only dissociate for incidence energies above 1.05 eV. This result is consistent with molecular beam experiments performed in this system. Interestingly, our results also suggest that for the spin-singlet O2 dissociation occurs even for incidence energies as low as 50 meV. We propose the use of spin-singlet excited O2 molecules to improve the otherwise low dissociative reactivity of O2 at clean Ag(100).

We study the dissociative adsorption of N2 on W(100) and W(110) by means of density functional theory and classical dynamics. Working with a full six-dimensional adiabatic potential energy surface (PES), we find that the theoretical results of the dynamical problem strongly depend on the choice of approximate exchange-correlation functional for the determination of the PES. We consider the Perdew-Wang-91 [Perdew et al., Phys. Rev. B 46, 6671 (1992)] and Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (RPBE) [Hammer et al., Phys. Rev. B 59, 7413 (1999)] functionals and carry out a systematic comparison between the dynamics determined by the respective PESs. Even though it has been shown in earlier works that the RPBE may provide better values for the chemisorption energies, our study brings evidence that it gives rise to a PES with excessive repulsion far from the surface.

We quantitatively evaluate the contribution of electron-hole pair excitations to the reactive dynamics of H2 on Cu(110) and N2 on W(110), including the six dimensionality of the process in the entire calculation. The interaction energy between molecule and surface is represented by an ab initio six-dimensional potential energy surface. Electron friction coefficients are calculated with density functional theory in a local density approximation. Contrary to previous claims, only minor differences between the adiabatic and nonadiabatic results for dissociative adsorption are found. Our calculations demonstrate the validity of the adiabatic approximation to analyze adsorption dynamics in these two representative systems.

The dissociative adsorption of N2 on W(110) is studied using classical dynamics on a six-dimensional potential energy surface obtained from density functional theory calculations. Two distinct channels are identified in the dissociation process: a direct one and an indirect one. It is shown that the direct channel is inhibited for low energy molecules (Ei < 400 meV) and low incidence angles. The indirect channel includes long-lasting dynamic trapping of the molecule at the surface before dissociation. The dependence of the sticking coefficient on the initial incidence angle is analyzed. The theoretical results compare well with values measured using molecular beam techniques.

Low-energy N2 molecules easily dissociate on W(100) but not on W(110). In this Letter, the six-dimensional potential energy surface for the dissociation of N2 molecules on W(110) has been determined by density functional calculations. Results are compared to those of N2 dissociation on W(100). The difference in reactivity between the two faces is shown to arise from the characteristics of the potential energy surface far from the surface (>3Å) and not from the properties of a precursor well or those of the final atomic adsorption sites. © 2006 The American Physical Society.

The six-dimensional potential energy surface for the dissociation of N2 molecules on the W(110) surface has been determined by density functional calculations and interpolated using the corrugation reducing procedure. Examination of the resulting six-dimensional potential energy surface shows that nonactivated paths are available for dissociation. In spite of this, the dissociation probability goes to a very small value when the impact energy goes to zero and increases with increasing energy, a behavior usually associated with activated systems. Statistics on the dynamics indicate that this unconventional result is a consequence of the characteristics of the potential energy surface at long distances. Furthermore, two distinct channels are identified in the dissociation process, namely, a direct one and an indirect one. The former is responsible for dissociation at high energies. The latter, which includes long-lasting dynamic trapping in the vicinity of a potential well above the W top position, is the leading mechanism at low and intermediate energies.© 2006 American Institute of Physics.