Femtosecond laser pulse induced desorption: A molecular dynamics simulation

In recent simulations of femtosecond laser induced desorption of molecular oxygen from the Ag(110) surface, it has been shown that depending on the properties (depth and electronic environment) of the well in which O2 is adsorbed, the desorption can be either induced dominantly by hot electrons or via excitations of phonons. In this work we explore whether the ratios between the desorption yields from different adsorption wells can be tuned by changing initial surface temperature and laser pulse properties. We show that the initial surface temperature is an important parameter, and that by using low initial surface temperatures the electronically mediated process can be favored. In contrast, laser properties seem to have only a modest influence on the results.