Production and stability of oxygen cluster cations and anions,revisited

Stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric, positive and negative oxygen cluster ions (n up to 70) have been produced in a crossed neutral beam/electron beam ion source. The abundance and stability of the ions formed have been analyzed with a double focussing sector field mass spectrometer in a series of experiments. Positive and negative ion mass spectra observed exhibit distinct abundance anomalies, however, at different cluster sizes. Abundance maxima and minima correlate with correspondingly small and large metastable fractions of (O₂) _n ⁺ and (O₂) _n ^? ions, respectively. (O₂) _n ⁺ ions may also lose up top=(n?1) monomers by collision induced dissociation with monotonously decreasing probability with increasingp. Metastable fractions determined for (O₂) _n ^? ions produced with appr. zero eV electrons are in general larger than those for ions produced with appr. 7 eV electrons. (O₂) _n ^? ions are also observed to decay via autodetachment, with lifetimes increasing with increasing cluster size. Finally, here we were able to prove that an apparent loss of the monomer fragment O (and higher homologues) observed in the metastable time regime is due to ordinary metastable monomer evaporation in the acceleration region. Moreover, we will also present here some new data and interpretation concerning the electron attachment cross section function for O₂ clusters.     

Formation of negatively-charged cluster ions in thermal energy collisions with state-selected rydberg atoms

Using crossed atomic, molecular cluster, and cw laser beams in conjunction with mass spectrometric ion detection, we have obtained for the first time results for electron transfer fromstate-selected Rydberg atoms to molecular clusters. We report negative ion mass spectra for (CO₂) _k ^? (4≦k≦25) and (O₂) _k ^? (1≦k≦13) cluster ions, resulting from collisions of Ar** (nd) Rydberg atoms (12≦n≦40) with (CO₂) _m and (O₂) _m clusters at relative velocities around 830 m/s, and, for comparison, positive ion mass spectra due to Ne(3s ³ P _{2, 0}) Penning ionization. For both CO ₂ ^? and O₂-clusters, the negative and the positive ion mass spectra are very different. For (CO₂) _k ^Emphasis>/? cluster ions, the mass spectra show distinct variations with principal quantum number of the Rydberg atom, corresponding to differentn-dependences of the effective rate constant for selected cluster ions, as measured relative to the knownn-dependence for SF ₆ ^? formation in collisions with SF₆. For (O₂) _k ^? cluster ions, on the other hand, the mass spectra are almost independent ofn with ion intensities, which clearly reflect their thermochemical stabilities (O ₄ ^? as dominant species).     

Electron attachment to oxygen and oxygen/ozone clusters studied in a high-resolution crossed beams experiment

Highly monochromatized electrons (with 30 meV FWHM) are used in a crossed beams experiment to investigate electron attachment to oxygen clusters (O₂)_n at electron energies from approximately zero eV up to 2 eV. At energies close to zero the attachment cross section for the reaction (O₂)_n +e → O ₂ ^? varies inversely with the electron energy, indicative of s-wave electron capture to (O₂)_n. Peaks in the attachment cross section present at higher energies can be ascribed to vibrational levels of the oxygen anion. The vibrational spacings observed can be quantitatively accounted for. In addition electron attachment to mixed oxygen/ozone clusters has been studied in the energy range up to 4 eV. Despite the initially large excess of oxygen molecules in the neutral clusters the dominant attachment products are undissociated cluster ions (O₃) _m ^? including the O ₃ ^? monomer while oxygen cluster ions (O₂) _n ^? appear with comparatively low intensity.     

Collision-induced reactions of size-selected molecular cluster anions

Collision-induced reactions of size-selected cluster anions, (CO₂) _n ^? and (N₂O)_nO^? with He and Kr atoms were studied at collision energies from 0.1 to 2.0 eV (center-of mass) by means of a tandem mass-spectrometer equipped with a pair of octapole ion guides. The dominant process was evaporation of the constituent molecules from the parent cluster ion. The absolute cross section for the evaporation was measured as functions of the size of the parent cluster ion and the collision energy. The reaction was explained by collisional excitation of the parent cluster ion followed by its unimolecular dissociation. The observed cross sections which correspond to those for the collisional excitation agree with those calculated in terms of charge-induced dipole and induced dipole-induced dipole interactions between the parent cluster ion and the target atom. The distributions of the product ions resulting from the unimolecular dissociation were reproduced by a simple calculation based on RRK theory. In the collision of (CO₂) _n ^? , the cross sections for (CO₂) ₁₀ ^? and (CO₂) ₁₄ ^? were significantly small and their abundances in the product ion distributions were particularly large. These findings indicate that (CO₂) ₁₀ ^? and (CO₂) ₁₄ ^? are stable species. On the other hand, stable species in (N₂O)_nO^? was found to be (N₂O)₅O^?.     

Photoelectron spectroscopy of (CO2)n(H2O) m − clusters

Photoelectron spectra of (CO₂)_nH₂O^? (2≤n≤8) and (CO₂)_n(H₂O) ₂ ^? (1≤n≤2) were measured at the photon energy of 3.49 eV. The spectra show unresolved broad features, which are approximated by Gaussians. The vertical detachment energies (VDEs) were determined as a function of the cluster size. For (CO₂)_nH₂O^?, the VDE-n plots exhibit a sharp discontinuity between n=3 and 4; the VDE value is ≈3.5 eV at n=3, while it drops down abruptly to 2.59 eV at n=4. This discontinuity in VDE is ascribed to "core switching" at n=4; a C₂O ₄ ^? dimer anion forms the core of (CO₂)_nH₂O^? for n≤3, while a monomer CO ₂ ^? is the core for n≥4. The (CO₂)₂(H₂O) ₂ ^? ion has a VDE of 2.33 eV, indicating the presence of a CO ₂ ^? monomer core in the binary clusters containing two H₂O molecules.     

Observation and investigation of metastable decay series of (N2) n + cluster ions

N₂ cluster ions are produced by electron impact ionization of a supersonic N₂ cluster beam and analyzed with a double focussing sector field mass spectrometer. It is found that metastable N₂ cluster ions lose more than one N₂ molecule in the μs time regime and decay predominantly via sequential series (N₂) _n ⁺ *→(N₂) _n?1 ⁺ *→...→N ₂ ⁺ , evaporating a single monomer in each of these successive decay steps. The metastable decay rates determined in detail for cluster sizes 2≤n≤6 andn=20 lie between 1 and 10⁶s^?1. These rates(i) depend strongly on the time elapsed after ion formation and on the respective parent cluster ion size, and(ii) exhibit a quasiperiodic pattern in magnitude.     

Fragmentation of clusters induced by collision with a solid surface: comparison of antimony and bismuth cluster ions

Mass-selected antimony cluster ions Sb _n ⁺ (n = 3-12) and bismuth cluster ions Bi _{ntn} ⁺ (n = 3-8) are allowed to collide with the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite at energies up to 350 eV. The resulting fragment ions are analysed in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Two main fragmentation channels can be identified. At low impact energies both Sb _n ⁺ and Bi _n ⁺ cluster ions lose neutral tetramer and dimer units upon collision. Above about 150 eV impact energy Sb ₃ ⁺ becomes the predominant fragment ion of all investigated antimony clusters. The enhanced stability of these fragment clusters can be explained in the framework of the polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory. In contrast, Bi _n ⁺ cluster scattering leads to the formation of Bi ₃ ⁺ , Bi ₂ ⁺ and Bi+ with nearly equal abundances, if the collision energy exceeds 75 eV. The integral scattering yield is substantially higher in this case as compared to Sb _n ⁺ clusters.     

Photoemission from tin and lead cluster anions

Photoelectrons from mass-identified jet-cooled tin and lead cluster anions (Sn _n ^? , Pb _n ^? ) are detached by ultraviolet laser light (hν=3.68 eV). The photoelectron energy spectra give the detachment energies of ground state cluster anions (electron affinities) as well as excitation energies of neutral clusters in the geometry of the anions. The energy spectra for Sn _n ^? are dominated by flat thresholds with ann-dependence similar to that of other group IV clusters. In contrast, for Pb _n ^? we find pronounced narrow lines close to threshold, generally followed by a 0.3–1.4 eV gap which indicates closed-shell behaviour of Pb _n ^? for nearly alln.     

Ab initio study of small He cluster ions He n + ,n=2, 3, 4, 5, and low-lying Rydberg states of He4

SCF and CEPA calculations are applied to study the structure of small He cluster ions, He _n ⁺ ,n=2, 3, 4, 5 and some low-lying Rydberg states of He₄. The effect of electron correlation upon the equilibrium structures and binding energies is discussed. He ₃ ⁺ has a linear symmetric equilibrium geometry with a bond length of 2.35a ₀ and a binding energyD _e =0.165 eV with respect to He ₂ ⁺ +He (experimentally:D ₀=0.17 eV which corresponds toD _e ≈0.20 eV). He ₄ ⁺ is a very floppy molecular ion with several energetically very similar geometrical configurations. Our CEPA calculations yield a T-shaped form with a He ₃ ⁺ centre (R _e = 2.35a ₀) and one inductively bound He atom (4.39a ₀ from the central He atom of He ₃ ⁺ ) as equilibrium structure. Its binding energy with respect to He ₃ ⁺ +He is 0.031 eV. A linear symmetric configuration consisting of a He ₂ ⁺ centre with a bond length of 2.10a ₀ and two inductively bound He atoms (4.20a ₀ from the centre of He ₂ ⁺ ) is only 0.02–0.03 eV higher in energy. We expect that in larger He cluster ions structures with He ₂ ⁺ and He ₃ ⁺ centres andn?2 orn?3 inductively bound He atoms have nearly the same energies. In He₄ a low-lying metastable Rydberg state (³ Π symmetry for linear He ₄ ^* ,³ B ₁ for the T-shaped form) exists which is slightly stronger bound with respect to He ₃ ^* +He than the corresponding ion.     

Metastable decay of rare gas cluster ions: mechanism and kinetics

Metastable decay of cluster ions has been discovered only recently. It was noted that one has to take this metastable decay into account when using mass spectrometry to probe neutral clusters, because ion abundance anomalies in mass spectra of rare gas and molecular clusters are caused by delayed metastable evaporation of monomers following ion production. Moreover, it was found that(i) the individual metastable reaction rates k depend strongly on cluster size and cluster ion production pathways and that(ii) there exists experimental evidence (k=k(t)) and a theoretical prediction that a given mass selected cluster ion generated by electron impact ionization of a nozzle expansion beam will comprise a range of metastable decay rates. In addition, it was discovered that metastable Ar cluster ions which lose two monomers in the μs time regime decay via sequential decay series Ar _n ⁺ *→Ar _n?1 ⁺ *→Ar _n?2 ⁺ * with cluster sizes 7≤n≤10 andn=3 (similar results were obtained recently in case of N₂ cluster ions). Conversely, the dominant metastable decay channel of Ar ₄ ⁺ * into Ar ₂ ⁺ was found to proceed predominantly via a single step fissioning process.     

Ab initio calculation of the vertical excitation energies of small helium cluster ions

Quantum chemical ab initio calculations have been performed for the vertical excitation energies and oscillator strengths of all low-lying electronically excited states of small helium cluster ions, He _n ⁺ ,n=2, ..., 7. The geometrical structures of the ions were fixed at the equilibrium geometries of the respective ground states, for He ₄ ⁺ and He ₅ ⁺ also one alternative structure was considered. The low-lying excited states can be classified into two categories: the electronic transition can occur either within the central He ₂ ⁺ or He ₃ ⁺ unit or from the peripheral weakly bound He atoms to this unit. The latter transitions are very weak (f≈0.001), closely spaced, with vertical excitation energies of about 5.7 eV. The He ₂ ⁺ and He ₃ ⁺ units have strong transitions at 9.93 and 5.55 eV, respectively; these transitions are only slightly blue-shifted if He ₂ ⁺ or He ₃ ⁺ are placed as “chromophores” into the centre of a larger He _n ⁺ cluster. The large difference in the vertical excitation energy of the strong transition should enable an experimental decision of the question whether the cluster ions have He ₂ ⁺ or He ₃ ⁺ cores.     

Small silicon oxide clusters: chains and rings

We study several silicon oxide cluster series with different Si:O stoichiometries using photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) of size-selected anions: (SiO) _n ^? (n=3–5), (SiO₂) _n ^? (n =1–4), and Si(SiO₂) _n ^? (n = 2,3). The (SiO)_n clusters are shown to be closed-shell molecules and the HOMOLUMO gaps are observed from the PES spectra to decrease for larger n. These clusters are shown to have ring sturctures. Si₃O₄ is known to have a D_2d structure with two perpendicular Si₂O₂ rhombuses.The PES spectrum of Si₄O ₆ ^? is very similar to that of Si₃O ₄ ^? . It is concluded that Si₄O₆ has a similar structure with a chain of three Si₂O₂ rhombuses. The (SiO₂)_n clusters all exhibit high electron affinities and only one band is observed at 4.66 eV photon energy. These clusters are shown to have similar chain structures containing Si₂O₂ rhombuses, but the two terminal Si atoms are bonded to an extra 0 atom each. The possibility of using these clusters to provide structural models for oxygen-deficient defects in bulk silicon oxides is also discussed.     

Sputtered metal cluster ions: Unimolecular decomposition and collision induced fragmentation

Cluster ions are produced by ion bombardment of thick metal targets and mass selected in a Wien filter. The unimolecular decomposition of Al _n ⁺ , Cu _n ⁺ , Mo _n ⁺ , W _n ⁺ , and Pb _n ⁺ is investigated under UHV conditions. The time evolution of the decay allows a glimpse into the cluster formation/fragmentation process. Highly excited metal cluster ions decompose mainly by evaporating single neutral atoms with rates reaching 100%. The collision induced fragmentation (CIF) of stable mass selected metal cluster ions in a low pressure Ar and O₂ gas target will be compared to the unimolecular decay.     

Photoelectron spectroscopy of transition metal-sulfur cluster anions

Metal (M)-sulfur cluster anions (M = Ag, Fe and Mn) have been studied using photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) with a magnetic-bottle type time-of-flight electron spectrometer. The M_nS _m ^? cluster anions were formed in a laser vaporization cluster source. For Ag-S, the largest coordination number of Ag atoms (n _max) is generally expressed as n _max =2m ? 1 in each series of the number of S atoms (m). For Fe?S and Mn?S, it was found that the stable cluster ions are the ones with compositions of n=m and n=m±1. Their electron affinities were measured from the onset of the PES spectrum. For Ag?S, the EAs of Ag₁S_m are small and around 1 eV, whereas those of Ag_nS_m (_n ≥ 2) become large above 2 eV. The features in the mass distribution and PES suggest that Ag₂S unit is preferentially formed with increasing the number of Ag atoms. For Fe?S and Mn?S, the PES spectra of Fe_nS _m ^? /Mn_nS _m ^? show a unique similarity at n ≥ m, indicating that the Fe/Mn atom addition to Fe_nS _n ^? /Mn_nS _n ^? has little effect on the electronic property of Fe_nS_n/Mn_nS_n. The PES spectra imply that the Fe_nS_n cluster is the structural framework of these clusters, as similarly as the determined structure of the Fe_nS_n cluster in nitrogenase enzyme.     

Electron attachment to SO2 clusters

Electron attachment to SO₂ clusters formed by nozzle expansion was investigated (n up to 8) in a molecular-beam electron-ionization mass-spectrometer system. Electron ionization of SO₂ clusters was also studied (n up to 18) showing no pronounced structure in the mass spectra and no strong dependence on electron energy, the dominant positive ion being the (SO₂) _n ⁺ series. Also present but less abundant are the fragment ion series (SO₂) _n SO⁺, (SO₂) _n S⁺ and (SO₂) _n O⁺ with decreasing intensities in that order. The dominant negative ion is (SO₂) _n ^? . The homologous series (SO₂) _n O^? and (SO₂) _n SO^? are less abundant, the series (SO₂) _n S^? has not been observed at all (except SO₂·S^? produced in the background gas via secondary processes). The negative ion mass spectra show a strong dependence on electron energy due to a rich resonance like structure of the attachment cross sections involved. These attachment cross sections have been determined (up to 40 eV) and they show significant differences for the different homologous series. The most striking feature is that for instance (SO₂) _n SO^? ions do not show any signal at the first main resonance of SO^? from SO₂. Likewise (SO₂) _n O^? ions only show a strongly diminished signal at the first main resonance of O^? from SO₂. This is in contrast to results in O₂, CO₂ and N₂O. Conversely, (SO₂) _n ^? ions show — besides peaks at the position of the first and second O^? resonance — additional resonances below and above these peaks. In addition, (SO₂) ₅ ^? and larger ones show a zero energy peak consisting of stoichiometric SO₂ cluster ions similar to observations in O₂, CO₂ and H₂O. The attachment cross section of S^? from SO₂ has been found to show an additional previously undetected peak at ～1 eV. Moreover, the present study revealed the existence of a S _n ^? (n up to 8) series being produced with nearly zero energy electrons via volume and surface processes in and around the ion source.     

Quantum chemical DFT calculations of the local structure of the hydrated electron and dielectron

The adiabatic bound state of an excess electron is calculated for a water cluster (H₂O) ₈ ^? in the gas phase using the DFT-B3LYP method with the extended 6-311++G(3df,3pd) basis set. For the liquid phase the calculation is performed in the polarizable continuum model (PCM) with regard to the solvent effect (water, ? = 78.38) in the supermolecule-continuum approximation. The value calculated by DFT-B3LYP for the vertical binding energy (VBE) of an excess electron in the anionic cluster (VBE(H₂O) ₈ ^? = 0.59 eV) agrees well with the experimental value of 0.44 eV obtained from photoelectron spectra in the gas phase. The VBE value of the excess electron calculated by PCM-B3LYP for the (H₂O) ₈ ^? cluster in the liquid phase (VBE = 1.70 eV) corresponds well to the absorption band maximum λ_max = 715 nm (VBE = 1.73 eV) in the optical spectrum of the hydrated electron hydr e _hydr ^? . Estimating the adiabatic binding energy (ABE)e _hydr ^t- in the (H₂O) ₈ ^? cluster (ABE = 1.63 eV), we obtain good agreement with the experimental free energy of electron hydration ΔG ₂₉₈ ⁰ (e _hydr ^? ) = 1.61 eV. The local model (H₂O) ₈ ^2? of the hydrated dielectron is considered in the supermolecule-continuum approximation. It is shown that the hydrated electron and dielectron have the same characteristic local structure: -O-H{↑}H-O- and -O-H{↑↓}H-O-respectively.     

Dynamic solvation effects on surface-impact dissociation of I 2 - (CO2)n

Surface-impact dissociation of I ₂ ^- (CO₂)n was studied by a molecular dynamics simulation in comparison with the experimental results. The branching fraction, ? _dis, of the I ₂ ^- dissociation was calculated as a function of the parent cluster size, n. This computational result reproduces the experimental one. We calculated a number of the I ₂ ^- dissociation events starting from given initial orientations. The most favorable molecular orientation obtained supports the wedge effect in which a CO₂ molecule located at the waist position of the I ₂ ^- core ion splits the I ₂ ^- bond as if a piece of wood is split by a mechanical thrust against a wedge. The time profile of the wedge action calculated for the I ₂ ^- (CO₂) impact shows that more than 20 % of the collision energy is converted to the vibrational energy of the I ₂ ^- .     

On the stability of Pb n m+ -clusters

The stability of multiply charged Pb _n ^m+ -clusters (n ≤ 3;m=0, 1, 2) was studied by solving exactly for the valencep-electrons a many body Hubbard-like Hamiltonian with intra- and interatomic Coulomb interactions. Particularly we obtain that Pb ₃ ²⁺ has a metastable ground state, in which Pb ₃ ²⁺ has isosceles shape (bond lengthR=3.2 Å, bond angle θ=124°) and a positive binding energyE _B =3.4 eV. The activation barrier against dissociation into Pb ₂ ⁺ + Pb⁺ is 0.13 eV, yielding a very long lifetime. This is in agreement with recent experiments [1] in which the lifetime of Pb ₃ ²⁺ was determined to be at least 10^?6 s. Comparison with self consistent Hartree-Fock calculations shows that the metastability of Pb ₃ ²⁺ is due to electronic correlations within the paramagnetic ground state.     

Niobium oxochlorides in the gas phase: Quantum chemical calculations of the structure and relative stability of isomers

The gas-phase niobium oxochloride anions that result by the interaction between the finely dispersed stereoselective acetylene cyclotrimerization catalyst NbCl₂(C _n H _n ) (n = 10–12) and atmospheric oxygen and moisture have been characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry. From the relative intensities of mass spectrometric lines, it has been deduced that, among the various niobium oxochloride species passing into the gas phase under the action of laser radiation, the most abundant monomer ion is NbO₂Cl ₂ ^? , the most abundant dimers are Nb₂O₄Cl ₃ ^? and Nb₂O₃Cl ₅ ^? , the most abundant trimer is Nb₃O₆Cl ₅ ^? , and the most abundant tetramer is Nb₄O₈Cl ₅ ^? . The gas phase also contains low concentrations of fragments corresponding to the pentanuclear anion Nb₃O₁₁Cl ₄ ^? and the hexanuclear anion Nb₆O₁₅Cl ₂ ^? . The geometric parameters and total energy of the stable isomers of the dinuclear and polynuclear niobium oxochloride anions existing in the gas phase has been calculated by quantum chemical methods, and their relative thermodynamic stabilities have been determined for different metal core configurations and different arrangements of oxygen and chlorine ions. The stereochemistry of the niobium oxochlorides is discussed.     

Photoelectron spectroscopy of silicon and germanium-fluorine binary cluster anions (SinF m − , GenF m − )

Electronic properties of silicon-fluorine and germanium-fluorine cluster anions (Si_nF _m ^? n = 1–9, m = 1–3, Ge_nF _m ^? ; n =1–9, m = 1–3) were investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy using a magnetic-bottle type electron spectrometer. The binary cluster anions were generated by a laser vaporization of a silicon/germanium rod in an He carrier gas mixed with a small amount of SiF₄ or F₂ gas. Comparison between photoelectron spectra of Si_nF^?/Ge_nF^? and Sin /Gen (n = 4–9) gives the insight that the doped F atom can remove one electron from the corresponding Sin _n ^? /Ge _n ^? cluster without any serious rearrangement of Sin/Gen framework, because only the first peak of Si _n ^? /Ge _n ^? , corresponding singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO), disappears and other successive spectral features are unchanged with the F atom doping