https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00607-7
Regular Article – Clusters and Nanostructures
Photodissociation of small group-14 atomic clusters in a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer
Institut für Physik, Universität Greifswald, 17487, Greifswald, Germany
a
paul.fischer@uni-greifswald.de
Received:
29
November
2022
Accepted:
31
January
2023
Published online:
19
February
2023
Cationic and anionic clusters of the group-14 elements carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, and lead are produced by high-vacuum laser ablation and studied with a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer. In-trap photodissociation is performed for cluster species in the size range 
2–10. The clusters’ production rates as well as their dissociation pathways are used to probe the nonmetal–metal transition throughout the group. Carbon clusters show neutral-trimer break-off, while those of the other elements evaporate neutral monomers and, in some cases, form specific charged fragment sizes.
© The Author(s) 2023
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