Mass Spectrometric Observation of Doubly Charged Alkaline‐Earth Argon Ions

Doubly charged diatomic ions MAr²⁺ where M=Mg, Ca, Sr or Ba have been observed by mass spectrometry with an inductively coupled plasma ion source. Abundance ratios are quite high, 0.1 % for MgAr²⁺, 0.4 % for CaAr²⁺, 0.2 % for SrAr²⁺ and 0.1 % for BaAr²⁺ relative to the corresponding doubly charged atomic ions M²⁺. It is assumed that these molecular ions are formed through reactions of the doubly charged metal ions with neutral argon atoms within the ion source. Bond dissociation energies (D₀) were calculated and agree well with previously published values. The abundance ratios MAr⁺/M⁺ and MAr²⁺/M²⁺ generally follow the predicted bond dissociation energies with the exception of MgAr²⁺. Mg²⁺ should form the strongest bond with Ar [D₀ (MgAr²⁺)=124 to 130 kJ mol^?1] but its relative abundance is similar to that of the weakest bound BaAr²⁺ (D₀=34 to 42 kJ mol^?1). The relative abundances of the various MAr²⁺ ions are higher than those expected from an argon plasma at T=6000 K, indicating that collisions during ion extraction reduce the abundance of the MAr²⁺ ions relative to the composition in the source. The corresponding singly charged MAr⁺ ions are also observed but occur at about three orders of magnitude lower intensity than MAr²⁺.     

Charged cores in ionized $\mathsf{{^{4}He}}$ clusters III: A quantum modeling for the collisional relaxation dynamics

When a pure ⁴He droplet is ionized by electron impact, the most abundant fragment detected in mass spectra after ionization is He₂ ⁺ . All the models that have been proposed thus far to explain the experimental evidence therefore involve the formation of the He₂ ⁺ molecular ion. The understanding of the interactions between this ion and the surrounding He atoms in the cluster and of their dynamical behavior during cluster break-up is an important element for the modeling of the cluster evolution after the ionization event. In previous works [1,2] we have computed and described the Potential Energy Surface (PES) of the electronic ground state for the He₃ ⁺ system that provides the required forces between He₂ ⁺ and He. After ionization He₂ ⁺ is presumably formed by association of an He ⁺ and any of the neutral atoms in the cluster via a 3-body collision process. The ensuing vibrational quenching of the hot molecular ion may release the energy necessary to evaporate the entire droplet, or most of it, and give the fragmentation patterns detected by experiments. We present here a model quantum dynamics that generates vibrational deexcitation cross-sections and the corresponding rate coefficients for the collision of He₂ ⁺ with He. A timescale of the cluster evaporation due to vibrational relaxation is estimated and the present findings are compared with earlier studies on the same system.Received: 15 June 2004, Published online: 24 August 2004PACS: 31.15.Qg Molecular dynamics and other numerical methods - 34.50.Ez Rotational and vibrational energy transfer - 36.40.Wa Charged clusters