Selective Adsorption

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Selective adsorption is the effect when minima associated with bound state resonances occur in specular intensity in atom-surface scattering. It was first observed in 1930 by Estermann and Stern. Starting from the 1970s, selective adsorption has been extensively studied, both theoretically and experimentally. It is a powerful tool to determine the gas-surface interaction potential by yielding the vibrational energy spectrum of the gas atom bound to the surface. Energy levels measured with this technique are available for many systems.