title: Multiply charged neon clusters: failure of the liquid drop model?
abstract: We have analyzed the stability and fission dynamics of multiply charged neon cluster ions. The critical sizes for the observation of long-lived ions are n2=284 and n3=656 for charge states 2 and 3, respectively, a factor 3 to 4 below the predictions of a previously successful liquid-drop model. The preferred fragment ions of fission reactions are surprisingly small (2<or=n<or=5); their kinetic energy distributions peak at 200 meV or below. The size of these fragments and their average kinetic energies are much less than predicted by the liquid-drop model.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Leopold Franzens Universität, Technikerstrasse 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mähr
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zappa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Denifl
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kubala
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Echt
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Märk
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scheier