Spiers Memorial Lecture. Some remarks on surface reactions

Abstract

The driving force behind the advances that have occurred over the past decades in gas–surface dynamics has undoubtedly been improvements in equipment and experimental technique, but equally important has been the change of view this development has enforced; from a ‘thermal’ to an ‘atomistic’ picture of the phenomena. This has allowed, and even required, a fuller and more sharply defined interplay between experiment and theory. By analysing how this general development has occurred, and considering some of the advances in basic knowledge that it has made possible, features and procedures can be identified that suggest how further advances may be achieved in areas of relevance to types of surface reaction that remain poorly understood.