Low-energy decay pathways of doubly charged silver clusters $Ag_{n}^{2+}$ (n = 9 - 24)

Abstract

The low-energy dissociation channels of mass selected silver cluster ions Ag n 2+ (n = 9–24) are determined by collision induced dissociation (CID) in a Penning trap. While all clusters of the size n ≥ 17 evaporate neutral monomers, most smaller clusters undergo asymmetric fission of the form Ag n 2+ → Ag n−3 + + Ag {3} + . However, Ag 15 2+ and Ag 11 2+ emit monomers which indicates shell or odd-even effects. The observed fragmentation pathways are different from previous reports of measurements with sputtered Ag n 2+ .