Electron transfer collisions between sulfur dioxide clusters and laser-excited Rydberg atoms

Electron attachment to SO₂ clusters is studied in a pulsed crossed beam apparatus, using laser-excited nf Rydberg atoms as a low energy electron source. The results are interpreted as an attachment to a dimer subcluster followed by a rapid impulsive dissociation of the nascent dimer anion. The remaining cluster anions possess a large amount of internal energy. At low principal quantum numbersn, the influence of the Rydberg ionic core leads to an important evaporation process interpreted with simple model calculations.