Hot-electron femtochemistry at surfaces: on the role of multiple electron processes in desorption Original Research Article

Aspects of molecular processes at surfaces due to sub-ps laser pulses of visible light are discussed here. Within the limits of the standard two-temperature model describing the temporal evolution of fs laser-excited substrate electrons, a theoretical contribution to our understanding of desorption induced by fs laser stimulation is presented which includes, in a rudimentary way, multiple inelastic hot-electron scattering from the adsorbate. Results of the present model suggest that the degree of electron multiplicity (significantly less than 10) in fs-laser-induced-desorption is not as great as implied by previous DIMET (=desorption induced by multiple electronic transitions) or stochastic friction models.