A method for determining the mean translational energy of particles desorbed from solid surfaces

A method for determinig the mean molecular translational energy in gas flows of low intensity (10¹²–10¹⁴ molec. s^–1) has been proposed. The method was verified using various gases (H₂, N₂, O₂, and CO₂ flowing into a vacuum out of a heated capillary. The translational energies were determined for CO and N₂ molecules desorbing from the surface of polycrystalline Ir. The translational temperature (T_tr) measured for CO equals 650±90 K and almost coincides with the surface temperature (T_s = 600 K). In the case of nitrogen molecules,T_tr = 4600±500 K atT_s = 500 K. The method proposed is applicable to the determination of the spatial distribution of molecular beam particles.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 30–34, January, 1995.The authors express their gratitude to A. V. Sklyarov for fruitful discussions during the elaboration of the theoretical basis and technical realization of the method.The reseach was carried out with the partial financial support of the International Science Foundation (Grant MBN 000).