Coulomb explosion of nanoclusters that glide along organic surfaces

Abstract

A model of the Coulomb multiple dissociation (Coulomb explosion) of a nanocluster that glides at an atomic distance along an organic film at a velocity that is lower than the Bohr velocity is proposed. Nanoclusters that consist of identical atoms and films, whose molecules contain substructures of periodic diatomic valence bonds, (for example, CnH2n) that have a significant dipole moment are considered. These structures can serve as antennas for IR radiation. It is shown that the dissociation process of a gliding nanocluster is induced by a picosecond pulse of highly intense photons (1014–1016 W/cm2) that are radiated by IR antennas of the film as a result of the relaxation of collective vibrating excitations that are accumulated in the antenna (excimoles). These excimoles resonantly exit from the IR antennas of the film as a result of the action of the periodic Coulomb field, which appears during the gliding of a nanocluster with respect to the film molecules at a rate below the Bohr velocity. In the framework of the proposed model, the experimental results on the decay of C60+ ions as they glide along an organic film that contains molecules with IR antennas are analyzed.