Anomalous fragmentation in the electron-impact ionization of SF 6 and SiF 4 in Ar clusters

Abstract

Anomalous fragmentation in the electron-impact ionization of molecules has been observed under conditions in which the molecules would be in van der Waals clusters with argon. This is interpreted as evidence for the Penning transfer of excitation energy within clusters from the inert gas atom to the molecular species. The effect may have important implications for the interpretation of mass spectra of molecular beams.