Photoelectron spectroscopy of silicon- and germanium-fluorine binary cluster anions (Si n F m − , Ge n F m − )

Abstract

Electronic properties of silicon-fluorine and germanium-fluorine cluster anions (SinFm−n = 1–9, m = 1–3, GenFm−; n =1–9, m = 1–3) were investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy using a magnetic-bottle type electron spectrometer. The binary cluster anions were generated by a laser vaporization of a silicon/germanium rod in an He carrier gas mixed with a small amount of SiF4 or F2 gas. Comparison between photoelectron spectra of SinF−/GenF− and Sin /Gen (n = 4–9) gives the insight that the doped F atom can remove one electron from the corresponding Sinn−/Gen− cluster without any serious rearrangement of Sin/Gen framework, because only the first peak of Sin−/Gen−, corresponding singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO), disappears and other successive spectral features are unchanged with the F atom doping