Electron stimulated desorption: Principles and recent developments

A survey is given of the basic experimental findings in electron stimulated desorption and of the accepted theoretical model for their explanation. As an example for the test of the theory, the isotope effect in ESD of hydrogen on tungsten surfaces is described, which shows excellent agreement with the predictions of the model. The use of ESD as a surface probe is exemplified with recent work on hydrogen adsorption states on tungsten; the need for generalization of the one-dimensional model to three dimensions becomes clear in this case. Recent developments in theory (a quantum-mechanical treatment of the process) and experiment (promising measurements of the angular distribution of ionic ESD) are shortly discussed.