SYNCHRONIZATION IN OSCILLATORY SURFACE-REACTIONS ON SINGLE-CRYSTAL SURFACES

In oscillatory surface reactions on single crystal surfaces the partial pressure variations that accompany the oscillations in the reaction rate represent a global interaction between the local oscillators. The NO+CO reaction on Pt(100) exhibits both synchronized and unsynchronized oscillatory behavior depending on the substrate phase. Unsynchronized oscillations occur on the 1X1 phase but on the hex phase one finds synchronized oscillatory behavior. The mechanism leading to synchronization in the oscillations on Pt(100)-hex can be traced back to a critical dependence of the 1 X 1 reversible hex phase transition on the partial pressures of NO and CO. At both ends of the temperature window for rate oscillations one finds well-defined transitions to a stationary reaction rate. These bifurcations are discussed in terms of a transition from synchronized to unsynchronized behavior. In particular, the occurrence of deterministic chaos in connection with a Feigenbaum scenario is interpreted as being due to such a transition.