Shell correction study of fission of doubly charged silver clusters

Abstract

Fission of doubly charged silver clusters is investigated by the method of shell corrections. The following fission events are considered: Ag 22 2+ → Ag + + Ag 22 − + , (n=11, 10, 9, 8); Ag 21 2+ → Ag + + Ag 21 − + , (n=10, 9, 8, 7); Ag 18 2+ → Ag + + Ag 18 − + , (n=9, 8, 7, 6). It is found that the shell correction energy is comparable to or larger than the deformation energy of the liquid drop. Threshold energies for the fission events are calculated and compared with the experimental abundance spectra obtained by Katakuse et al. (1990). Correspondence between the calculated threshold energies with the shell corrections and the experimental abundance is very good, showing products from lower threshold fission channels yield more abundance. The threshold energies without the shell corrections are almost constant irrespective of the fission channels and cannot explain the experimental abundance. Abundance of some products are too small to be accounted for only by the threshold energies. The low abundance of those products may be explained by the presence of competing fission channels that have similar minimal energy paths. It is found in fission of Ag 18 2+ that the shell correction overwhelms the Coulomb energy and the fission channel to Ag8 + Ag 10 2+ is preferred over the fission channel to Ag 8 + + Ag 10 + .