Energetics, Dynamics, and Reactions of Rydberg State Molecules in van der Waals Clusters

Abstract

In the past 10 years the study of van der Waals clusters has grown enormously; perhaps one of the best indications of this growth, in both activity and sophistication, is the advent of this review issue devoted to such research. Van der Waals clusters, synthesized one molecule or atom at a time and accessed according to size and structure, provide a molecule by molecule view of the solvation process, its energetics, solute/solvent dynamics, and eventually even unimolecular and bimolecular chemical reactions. The clusters treated most frequently and discussed in this review are of the form solute or chromophore (solvent)n, with n varying from 1 to more than 100. These clusters are most typically generated in a supersonic beam; both large and small clusters can be synthesized by controlling the expansion conditions.