On the λ-state of nitrogen on tungsten surfaces

The desorption of nitrogen at high coverage from a tungsten surface has been studied using ultra-high vacuum thermal desorption mass spectrometry. The high coverage λ-states of nitrogen were prepared by activation of nitrogen gas by electron bombardment. Experiments using non-activated nitrogen gas also showed population of the λ-states, though with a very small sticking probability of 10−7. Nevertheless, this result shows that the λ-states are …