Formation of HCN in collisions of N and N with a self-assembled propanethiol surface on gold

Collisions of N + and N 2 + with C3 hydrocarbons, represented by a self assembled monolayer of propanethiol on a polcrystalline gold surface, were investigated by experiments over the incident energy range between 5 eV and 100 eV. For N + , formation of HCN + is observed at incident energies of projectile ions as low as 20 eV. In the case of N 2 + projectile ions, the yield of HCN + increased above zero only at incident energies of about 50 eV. This collision energy in the laboratory frame corresponds to an activation energy of about 3 eV to 3.5 eV. In the case of N + projectile ions, the yield of HCN + was large for most of the incident energy range, but decreased to zero at incident energies below 20 eV. This may indicate a very small energy threshold for the surface reaction between N + and C3 hydrocarbons of a few tenths of an eV. Such a threshold for the formation of HCN + may exist also for collisions of N + with an adsorbed mixture of hydrocarbon molecules. Collisions of N + and N 2 + with C3 hydrocarbons, represented by a self assembled monolayer of propanethiol on a polycrystalline gold surface, were investigated by experiments over the incident energy range between 5 eV and 100 eV.