Collision-induced dissociation studies on gas-phase titanium oxide cluster cations

Titanium oxide cluster cations $\mathrm{Ti}_{x}\mathrm{O}_{y}^{+}$ are produced in a molecular beam by combining laser ablation of titanium with the supersonic expansion of oxygen into vacuum. The size distribution of the clusters produced is analyzed by time-of-flight reflectron mass spectrometry. The stable clusters appearing in the mass spectrum can be described by the general formula $(\mathrm{TiO})_{m}(\mathrm{TiO}_{2})_{n}(\mathrm{O}_{2})_{k}^{+}$ (with m,n=0,1,2,?? and k=0,1). Additionally, collision-induced dissociation studies of mass selected clusters colliding with Kr atoms in a gas cell have been performed. The results show that the clusters lose neutral O₂, TiO and/or (TiO₂) _n units, and the remaining charged fragments are those with the lowest ionization potentials. From these results the fragmentation cross section of the selected clusters is obtained.