Electron ionization and electron attachment to van der Waals clusters

Electron interaction with van der Waals clusters produced by supersonic expansion has been studied with a double focussing mass spectrometer. In particular we have investigated here, (i) the production and stability of singly charged Ar cluster ions (evolution of magic numbers in the mass spectrum; dissociation channels for unimolecular (metastable) decay as α function of cluster size (up to n = 25) and stagnation conditions), and (ii) the electron attachment to O2 and CO2 clusters discovering a highly efficient attachment channel with electrons close to zero energy. (Author)