Reaction studies of carbon clusters

Reaction studies of carbon clustersC _n in the rangen=8–37, produced by laser vaporisation in a supersonic nozzle, have been investigated using time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Clear differences in reaction products formed on hydrogenation are detected which show that even and odd clusters behave quite differently and furthermore thatat least two different types of even cluster appear to exist. The reactivity patterns for clusters C _n withn=16, 18 and 22 are in a different class from those withn=20, 24, 26 ..., a behaviour consistent with the existence of closed cage fullerene structures for even clusters with 20 or more carbon atoms (other thann=22).     

Application of B–E time-of-flight mass spectrometry to the detection of high-energy neutral atoms following the photoexcitation of Ar

A novel instrument which combines high-resolution double-focusing mass spectrometry with time-of-flight detection was applied to the study of cluster ion photofragmentation. Using this apparatus, kinetic energy measurements were made on neutral photofragments following the excitation of Ar at 532 nm. The results show that one and possibly two argon atoms with high centre of mass kinetic energies emerge from the cluster within a few picoseconds of the photon being absorbed.     

A measurement of the average kinetic energy released during the unimolecular decomposition of CO2 ion clusters

A combined molecular beam—mass spectrometer apparatus has been used to measure the average kinetic energy E_t released during the unimolecular decomposition of CO₂ ion clusters in the field-free region of the mass spectrometer. For the reaction (CO₂), _n→ (CO_2n?1+CO₂, the measured value for E_t is found to increase as n increases from 3 to 13.     

The mass spectrometric fragmentation of n-benzylacetamide

The low energy mass spectra of N-benzylacetamide have been recorded. The major fragmentations of the molecular ion are similar to those observed in the acetanilide spectrum. In addition, the secondary dissociation of the [C₆H₅CH₂NH]⁺ ion by loss of HCN is shown to occur with transfer of the -N–H hydrogen to the ring.     

A Monte Carlo simulation of energy transfer processes in thermal unimolecular reactions. II. An applications to polyatomic dissociation

The Monte Carlo method has been used to provide a numerical solution to the ro-vibrational master equation for the low pressure unimolecular decomposition of a polyatomic molecule. This type of solution is made possible through the use of a simple exponential transition probability function, that represents the efficiency with which energy transfer takes place between the reactant molecule and an unspecified heat bath gas. The Monte Carlo technique is used to generate random variables that are distributed in a manner prescribed by the transition probability function. In the case of the present simulation, these variables correspond to random energy jumps induced in the molecule through single collision events. In order to account for the energy dependence of the vibrational state densities, we have proposed that vibrational relaxation in the polyatomic takes place from a single vibrational mode. Under equilibrium conditions we are able to show that with this assumption, the Monte Carlo model is capable of reproducing molecular quantities, such as the average vibrational energy per molecule and the vibrational specific heat, that compare favourable with the corresponding values calculated from equilibrium statistical mechanics. The model has been applied to a study of the low pressure unimolecular decomposition of a series of polyatomics. For three of the molecules, CH₄, CD₄, and C₂H₆ the agreement between the calculated and the high temperature experimental rate constants is very good. The calculations indicate that a significant proportion of the molecules that dissociate are rotationally as well as vibrationally excited. Very few of the reactive molecules have a vibrational energy content equal to or greater than E₀, the dissociation energy. The extent of rotational excitation is found to be temperature dependent.     

Mesoscopic one-way channels for quantum state transfer via the quantum Hall effect

We show that the one-way channel formalism of quantum optics has a physical realization in electronic systems. In particular, we show that magnetic edge states form unidirectional quantum channels capable of coherently transporting electronic quantum information. Using the equivalence between one-way photonic channels and magnetic edge states, we adapt a proposal for quantum state transfer to mesoscopic systems using edge states as a quantum channel, and show that it is feasible with reasonable experimental parameters. We discuss how this protocol may be used to transfer information encoded in number, charge, or spin states of quantum dots, so it may prove useful for transferring quantum information between parts of a solid-state quantum computer.