Energy accommodation and reactivity of O2 on tungsten

We have determined by direct molecular beam velocity measurements that translational energy accommodation of O₂ molecules scattered from a hot polycrystalline tungsten target is inefficient at high surface temperatures. Translational energy accommodation is inefficient whether the surface is clean or covered with oxygen to a varying extent, even though in the latter case the scattering is diffuse. On a clean tungsten surface the scattering of the O₂ was approximately specular and the reaction probability of O₂ was constant and greater than 90% over the temperature range 1000K to 2800 K. It was shown by simultaneous helium scattering that atomic surface roughness of an oxygen chemilayer, rather than trapping, is a major cause of the observed diffuse scattering of oxygen. At the lowest surface temperature of 1000 K, with an oxygen chemilayer present, the velocity of the most probable number density of the scattered O₂ was lower than in the incoming beam or than that expected for complete equilibration with the surface.