A one-dimensional microscopic quantum mechanical theory of light enhanced desorption

A one-dimensional microscopic quantum mechanical model is used to inquire whether it is possible to enhance the desorption rate by employing a laser to induce vibrational excitation of the chemisorptive bond. For model parameters simulating CO/Cu it is found that the required laser intensity is very large, roughly 10⁴ times that of a conventional high power CO₂ laser (whose intensity we take to be $\text{5 × 10}{}^{10}\text{W}\text{cm}{}^2$). We suggest that surface roughness can be used to enhance substantially the effect of the laser and possibly to enable the observation of laser enhanced desorption.