Scattering of atomic nitrogen on W(1 0 0)

We construct a 3D representation of the N/W(1 0 0) potential energy surface using the “corrugation-reducing procedure” to interpolate between ab initio data. We study the absorption and reflection dynamics on the frozen surface using classical trajectory methods. Our results show the importance of “dynamic trapping” which causes a decrease of the absorption probability with increasing impact energy. The strong corrugation of the surface induces a diffusion-like evolution of the atom degrees of freedom parallel to the surface.