Kinetic energy release for metastable fullerene ions

Abstract

Kinetic energy release distributions for spontaneous (metastable) decay of fullerene ions, C n z+ , have been determined for parent sizes n = 58, 60, and 70, and charge states z = 1, 2, 3, and 4. Extensive numerical modeling has been applied to verify that the shapes of fragment ion peaks in our mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy (MIKE) spectra are not affected by discrimination, making it possible to derive the center-of-mass total kinetic energy release distributions directly from the spectra. Measurements involving C 3H 8 + and C 3H 7 + ions confirm the accuracy of the approach.