Bridging the cluster-to-bulk divide: electron attachment time-of-flight mass spectrometry reveals geometrical shell closings in (SF6) (n) clusters (n = 2 - 550).
We report electron attachment time-of-flight mass spectra of SF (6) clusters over a wide range of cluster sizes, revealing a simple pattern of geometrical shell closings which persists from large clusters (n approximately 500) to as small as perhaps n = 14. Quantitative structural properties of these nanocrystallites are derived. These observations, made possible by an extraordinarily gentle ionization method and mass spectral analysis, suggest that bulk crystalline packing may be important for much smaller molecular clusters than previously observed, confirming theoretical predictions.
Ingólfsson
O
O
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
Wodtke
A M
AM
D015392:Chemistry, Inorganic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003460:Crystallization; D004583:Electrons; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*