DISSOCIATIVE ADSORPTION OF H-2 - TIME-DEPENDENT QUANTUM STUDIES

In this short review we consider some selected results for the dissociation of hydrogen on metal surfaces. In particular we focus our attention on the effects that surface corrugation have on the dissociation and also how rotations and vibrations couple in the interaction region. Results from time dependent quantum wavepacket calculations have been particularly helpful in forming our ideas of how diatomics dissociate. We describe this method along with two examples of propagation schemes. The power of limited dimensional models to rationalize experimental observations is clearly demonstrated.