Abstract
A new technique has been utilized in the study of surface adsorption and desorption. The technique involves the deposition of transmitting and receiving surface-wave interdigital transducers on a piezoelectric substrate such as single crystal quartz. When a surface wave is excited, certain adsorbed species are observed to desorb. The desorption is very strongly dependent on the peak amplitude of the applied surface wave rather than the average power. This technique may provide a useful tool for studying adsorption-desorption on insulating materials (which are not readily amenable to most other surface analysis techniques), and for thin metal films.