Inward traveling target patterns in the oscillatory CO oxidation on Pt(110)

The formation of target patterns in oscillatory CO oxidation on Pt(110) is studied using laser-induced, controlled creation of temperature heterogeneities. For the first time, inward traveling target waves are observed in this reaction-diffusion system. The experimental results are compared to numerical studies of the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation and the Krischer-Eiswirth-Ertl model, both extended by additional terms accounting for global gas-phase coupling to obtain good agreement with the experimental observations