Spectroscopy and nuclear dynamics of tetracene–rare-gas heteroclusters

Abstract

In this paper we report on the electronic spectroscopy of mass-resolved tetracene⋅Arn (n=1–26) and tetracene⋅Krn (n=1–14) heteroclusters, utilizing two-photon, two-color near-threshold ionization in conjunction with mass-spectrometric detection. The spectra of the S0 → S1 transition and the ionization threshold of these heteroclusters were monitored. The structured spectral features of the S0 → S1 transition of small- and medium-sized (n=1–8) heteroclusters were attributed to the electronic origins of structural isomers and to their intermolecular vibrations. The S0 → S1 spectra of large (n≥9) heteroclusters are broad and were assigned to inhomogeneous broadening due to the coexistence of isomers, with the spectral feature(s) of each distinct isomer being homogeneously broadened. Isomer-specific inhomogeneous line broadening was interrogated by the observation of isomer-specific ionization potentials for medium-sized (n=6–7) heteroclusters and of the dependence of the relative intensities of the spectral features on the conditions of the supersonic expansion. The ionization thresholds of the tetracene⋅An (A=Ar,Kr) reveal a linear (or superlinear) n dependence, being qualitatively different from the sublinear n dependence of the spectral shifts. These different patterns of the size dependence can be traced to the different intermolecular interactions which govern excitation and ionization and to the difference in the charge distribution in S0 and in the positive ion. The experimental spectroscopic data for the spectral shifts and the spectral linewidths were simulated in terms of the first and second moments of the classical line shape, which were obtained from Monte Carlo (MC) constant temperature simulations, in conjunction with a two-parameter fit of the excited-state tetracene–rare-gas potential. The Monte Carlo simulations of the structural fluctuation parameters identified several isomerization phenomena, i.e., correlated restricted and unrestricted surface motion, adcluster isomerization, surface melting and side crossing, and characterized the size dependence of the temperature onsets of these processes for small and medium sized n=2–20 clusters. These isomerization processes could not be interrogated by the investigation of the size dependence of the spectral shifts and linewidths. The size dependence and the isomer specificity of the spectral shifts are well accounted for by the MC simulations. The homogeneous spectral linewidths of small (n<8) clusters pertain to the spectroscopy of ‘‘static’’ isomers, while the line broadening of large (n≥20) clusters manifests inhomogeneous line broadening due to the coexistence of wetting and nonwetting isomers. The temperature dependence of the spectral shifts and inhomogeneous linewidths of large (n≥20) clusters provides means for internal cluster thermometry.