Photon‐stimulated desorption selectively breaks bonds

A perennial nuisance to experimenters is electron‐stimulated desorption, in which adsorbed atoms leave the surface of a material being struck by electrons. Over the past several years, this widely observed phenomenon has been undergoing development as a tool for studying chemical bonding at single‐crystal surfaces between specific kinds of atoms and at defect sites. Last year the existence of photon‐stimulated desorption was demonstrated. These techniques can selectively break specific surface bonds and be used to identify bonding sites and bond angles.