Covariance images of the primary response from rare gas cluster ions to photoexcitation

Abstract

The photoexcitation and fragmentation of rare gas cluster ions can yield large numbers of neutral products which, in turn, exhibit considerable variation in their kinetic energies. In order to interpret such events, a coincidence technique has been used to correlate the arrival times of neutral photofragments at a detector following the photoexcitation of Arn+ and Krn+, for n⩽10. By collecting data from approximately 105 photodissociation events for each type of cluster ion, covariance images have been derived which clearly demonstrate that the initial response to photoexcitation, is the ejection of a single rare gas atom which carries with it between 30% and 60% of the excess energy.