Absorption of a pulse of laser light in the surface region of a solid causes a fast temperature increase, followed, after the end of the laser pulse, by a rapid decrease to the base temperature. Experiments with a Nd laser (power 105–106 W/cm2, half width of the pulse 150 µsec) showed that desorption of CO from a Pd surface reaches its maximum rate within the time constant of the system (∼ 0.5 msec). This effect can be used for example to investigate the kinetics of adsorption/desorption processes by means of relaxation methods. © 1972, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.
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