THE VIBRATIONAL-EXCITATION OF NO/AG

The vibrational excitation of NO molecules scattering from a Ag(111) surface has been investigated using a time-dependent wavepacket simulation. The potential energy surface describing the dependence of the total energy on the vibrational and centre-of-mass degrees of freedom has been modelled using current experimental results and conforms to the ''late barrier'' type. The coupling to the surface is via an harmonic interaction. Results confirm that the assumed coupling is sufficient to account for the major experimental results.