Formation and photodetachment of cold metal cluster negative ions

Abstract

A general method is described for the formation of cold metal cluser negative ion beams which serve as excellent sources for photodetachment experiments. The method involves the pulsed laser vaporization of a metal target at the throat of a pulsed supersonic helium expansion. By the optimization of source conditions, intense beams (greater than 105 ions/pulse) of both positive and negative ions are produced routinely. Ionization of the metal cluster molecules, either during vaporization or by irradiation with 193 nm light, occurs prior to supersonic expansion and produces a cold plasma entrained in the neural flow that is renitent to stray electric and magnetic fields, unlike photoions produced in the collisionless downstream molecular beam. The enhancement of the negative ion flux by 193 nm irradiation is believed to be evidence for efficient electron attachment of low energy photoelectrons generated in the nozzle region. This attachment process, however, is apparently not effective for molecules containing less than ∼4 metal atoms. Laser irradition of mass-selected cluster anions extracted from these cold ion beams reveal that photodetachment of the metal cluster negative ion is always the preferred pathway, even when fragmentation of the ion is possible. This new negative ion production technique should therefore permit measurement of both electron affinities and photoelectron spectra as a function of cluster size and composition.