Assessing Mixed Quantum-Classical Molecular Dynamics Methods for Nonadiabatic Dynamics of Molecules on Metal Surfaces

Vibrational energy transfer in collisions of molecules with metal surfaces

The Born-Oppenheimer approximation (BOA), which serves as the basis for our understanding of chemical bonding, reactivity and dynamics, is routinely violated for vibrationally inelastic scattering of molecules at metal surfaces. The title-field therefore represents a fascinating challenge to our conventional wisdom calling for new concepts that involve explicit electron dynamics occurring in concert with nuclear motion. Here, we review progress made in this field over the last decade, which has witnessed dramatic advances in experimental methods, thereby providing a much more extensive set of diverse observations than has ever before been available. We first review the experimental methods used in this field and then provide a systematic tour of the vast array of observations that are currently available. We show how these observations - taken together and without reference to computational simulations - lead us to a simple and intuitive picture of BOA failure in molecular dynamics at metal surfaces, one where electron transfer between the molecule and the metal plays a preeminent role. We also review recent progress made in the theory of electron transfer mediated BOA failure in molecule-surface interactions, describing the most important methods and their ability to reproduce experimental observation. Finally, we outline future directions for research and important unanswered questions.

Microcanonical treatment of HCl dissociative chemisorption on Au(111): Reactive dampening through inefficient translational energy coupling and an active surface

Microcanonical unimolecular rate theory is applied to Shirhatti and Wodtke's recent supersonic molecular beam experiments examining the activated dissociative chemisorption of HCl on Au(111). A precursor mediated microcanonical trapping (PMMT) model (where the surface vibrates and HCl rotations, vibration, and translation directed along the surface normal are treated as active degrees of freedom) gave dissociative sticking coefficient predictions that are several orders of magnitude higher than experimental values but in good accord with prior quantum and molecular dynamics simulations. Density functional theory (DFT) electronic structure calculations using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional served to fix the vibrational frequencies of the reactive transition state and the threshold energy for dissociation, E0 = 72.9 kJ/mol. To explore the possibilities of varying threshold energy, coupling to phonons, and dynamics, a three-parameter [E0, s, ɛn] dynamically biased (d-) PMMT model was fit to the experiments. A dynamical bias was introduced using an efficiency, ɛn, of normal translational energy to contribute to the active exchangeable energy capable of promoting reactivity. To achieve the low sticking probabilities observed in experiment, severe normal translational energy dampening (ɛn → 0.26) was imposed, leading to a large vibrational efficacy of ηv = εv/εn = 3.85. The optimal threshold energy for dissociation was E0 = 30.88 kJ/mol, some 40 kJ/mol below the PBE-DFT prediction, and the optimal number of Au surface oscillators was s = 1. The d-PMMT modeling indicates that HCl/Au(111) reactivity can be consistent with electronically adiabatic passage across a relatively low and late transition state that dynamically disfavors normal translational energy.

A Linearized Semiclassical Dynamics Study of the Multiquantum Vibrational Relaxation of NO Scattering from a Au(111) Surface

The vibrational relaxation of NO molecules scattering from a Au(111) surface has served as the focus of efforts to understand nonadiabatic energy transfer at metal-molecule interfaces. Experimental measurements and previous theoretical efforts suggest that multiquantal NO vibrational energy relaxation occurs via electron-hole pair excitations in the metal. Here, using a linearized semiclassical approach, we accurately predict the vibrational relaxation of NO from the νi = 3 state for different incident translational energies. We also accurately capture the central role of transient electron transfer from the metal to the molecule in mediating the vibrational relaxation process but fall short of quantitatively predicting the full extent of multiquantum relaxation for high incident vibrational excitations (νi = 16).