Physics and chemistry in high electric fields

Progress is reviewed in our understanding of the effects of high electrostatic fields (of the order of volts per angstrom) on the adsorption and reaction of atoms and molecules on metal surfaces. New results are presented for polymers in high fields, reporting a large electrostriction for oligo(ethylene glycol). The discovery by Block and his collaborators close to two decades ago that polymerized sulphur can be extracted from an adsorbed sulphur multilayer using high electric fields is analysed on the basis of density functional calculations.