Many actual technological problems require the knowledge of the physical and chemical phenomena and processes taking place in high energy gas flows. This book presents an introductory analysis, theoretical and experimental, of these media, highlighting both their fundamental characteristics and applied aspects.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of what is currently one of the most active areas within chemical physics. It presents the history, status and future direction of the broad field of dynamical studies of gas-surface collisions, with an emphasis on problems of a chemical nature. Dynamics of Gas-Surface Interactions discusses a selection of important topics and provides a balanced picture of the whole field. It is written by experts in the respective subjects and no previous volume has offered such detailed coverage. This book will provide a valuable introduction to the subject for final year undergraduates and graduate students, as well as an important reference work for all those involved in this exciting area.

A series of hyperthermal energy, ion/surface scattering experiments were performed. These studies examined and characterized some of the many processes occurring in energetic gas/surface collisions. In the scattering of Ne+ on Si(001), the precise amount of momentum, transferred to the surface upon collision, was measured under various conditions. Models that incorporate image charge interactions and inelastic energy loss were successfully applied to simulate the data. The first measurement of atom abstraction at an oxide surface was recorded in the scattering of NO+ on O/Al(111). Measurement of the product yield and energy distribution as a function of incident energy revealed the detailed reaction mechanism. The growth and erosion of SiO2 thin films under O+ bombardment was studied. Isotopic labeling experiments combined with mass-, energy-, and angular-resolved detection provided compelling evidence for a direct Eley-Rideal abstraction of adsorbed oxygen by incident O+ ions. This reaction pathway competes directly with sputtering channels in the formation of scattered O2- and SiO+. The conclusions from this work help in the modeling of spacecraft interactions with the LEO environment, e.g., vehicle drag, spacecraft charging, oxidation/degradation of exposed surfaces, and the formation of signatures.

In high energy gas flows, at high velocities and high temperatures, physical and chemical processes such as molecular vibrational excitation, dissociation, ionisation or various reactions take place and deeply influence the structure of the flows. The characteristic times of these processes have the same order of magnitude as aerodynamic characteristic times, so that these reactive media are generally in thermodynamic and chemical non-equilibrium. This book presents a general introductory study of these media. In the first part their fundamental statistical aspects are described, starting from their discrete structure and taking into account the interactions between elementary particles: transport phenomena, relaxation and kinetics as well as their coupling are analysed and illustrated by many examples. The second part deals with the macroscopic re-entry bodies. Finally, the experimental aspects of these flows, their simulations in shock tubes and shock tunnels are described, as well as their application, particularly in the aerospatial domain. This book is intended for students that have acquired a basic knowledge in thermodynamics, statistical physics and fluid mechanics. It will also be of interest to engineers in research and industry, in particular in the aerospace industry, and more generally to all researchers trying to simulate and calculate complex reactive flows.

This is an in-depth monograph covering the topic of energy transfer and reactions on solid surfaces. This topic is of great interest now because of its applications to catalysis and solid-state electronics, including the manufacture of semiconductors, integrated circuits and other solid state devices. Initially it describes what is meant by heterogenous reaction dynamics. Basically, this is the study, on a molecular level, of the elementary dynamics of energy transfer and reactions at surface. The emphasis of the book will be on well characterized solid surfaces. Energy transfer and reactions are broadly defined to include phase transitions in adsorbed layers, diffusion, the absorption process itself, and energy transfer between adsorbate and subtrate, as well as gas-surface energy transfer, catalytic and oxidative type surface reactions.