Mass-selected photodissociation studies of AlPbn+ clusters (n=7-16): Evidence for the extraordinary stability of AlPb10+ and AlPb12+

• We report fragmentation pathways and dissociation energies of AlPbn+ (n=7–16) clusters. The clusters are produced with pulsed laser vaporization and studied in a supersonic molecular beam setup. They are mass selected and photodissociated with 532 and 355 nm laser light. Photofragments are thereafter mass separated in a tandem reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Bare Pbn+ (n = 8–16) clusters preferentially evaporate Pb atoms, with the exception of Pb15+ that fragments by loss of a Pb2 dimer to form the stable Pb13+ cluster. The smallest AlPbn+ (n = 7–11) clusters also show mainly atomic Pb evaporation, whereas the favored fragmentation pathway of the larger clusters (n = 12–16) involves Pb2 and Pb3 fragments. AlPb10+ and AlPb12+ are the most intense fragments of several larger cluster sizes, demonstrating the high stability of these two sizes. Dissociation energies corresponding to the most facile fragmentation channel of AlPbn+ (n = 11–15) are bracketed from the measured laser fluence dependencies of the fragment intensities using constraints imposed by unimolecular reaction rates. ©2013 American Physical Society

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Den kondenserade materiens fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Condensed Matter Physics (hsv//eng)

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