Selective adsorption

Selective adsorption is the effect when minima associated with bound-state resonances occur in specular intensity in atom-surface scattering. It was first observed in 1930 by Estermann and Stern. Starting from the 1970s, selective adsorption has been extensively studied, both theoretically and experimentally. It is a powerful tool to determine the gas–surface interaction potential by yielding the vibrational energy spectrum of the gas atom bound to the surface. Energy levels measured with this technique are available for many systems.