Electron impact and single photon ionization cross sections of neutral silver clusters

Abstract

Neutral silver atoms and small clusters Ag n (n=1...4) were generated by sputtering, i.e. by bombarding a polycrystalline silver surface with Ar+ ions of 5 keV. The sputtered particles were ionized by a crossed electron beam and subsequently detected by a quadrupole mass spectrometer. In alternative to the electron impact ionization, the same neutral species were also ionized by single photon absorption from a pulsed VUV laser (photon energy 7.9 eV), and the photoionization cross sections were evaluated from the laser intensity dependence of the measured signals. By in situ combining both ionization mechanisms, absolute values of the ratio σ e (Ag n )/σ e (Ag) between the electron impact ionization cross sections of silver clusters and atoms could be determined for a fixed electron energy of 46 eV. These values can then be used to calibrate previously measured relative ionization functions. By calibrating the results using literature data measured for silver atoms, we present absolute cross sections for electron impact ionization of neutral Ag2, Ag3 and Ag4 as a function of the electron energy between threshold and 125 eV.