Eur. Phys. J. D 27, 223-229 (2003)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2003-00268-4

Model analysis of the fragmentation of large H₂O and NH₃clusters based on MD simulations

¹ University “Babeş-Bolyai”, Faculty of Physics, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
² Max–Planck–Institut für Strömungsforschung, Bunsenstraße 10, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Corresponding author: ^a ubuck@gwdg.de

Received: 27 March 2003
Revised: 25 June 2003
Published online: 26 August 2003

Abstract

The fragmentation statistics of (H₂O)_n and (NH₃)_n clusters (n=100–1000) is investigated by MD simulations at different temperatures. The fragment size distributions are found to be well described by power laws over a wide range of excitation energies. The maximum fragment size depends linearly on the cluster size. A compact analytical model, implying the maximum fragment size and the power law exponent, is shown to fairly fit the average fragment size profiles. Measurements are carried out for the maximum fragment sizes after electron impact ionisation for water and ammonia clusters in the size range of n=50 to 2100. The measured linear dependence on cluster size is used to estimate the fragment size distributions.