title: Gas-Phase Vibrational Spectroscopy of the Aluminum Oxide Anions (Al2O3)1-6AlO2.
abstract: We use cryogenic ion trap vibrational spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory to probe how the structural variability of alumina manifests itself in the structures of the gas-phase clusters (Al2O3)nAlO2-with n=1-6. The infrared photodissociation spectra of the D2-tagged complexes, measured in the fingerprint spectral range (400-1200 cm-1), are rich in spectral features and start approaching the vibrational spectrum of amorphous alumina particles for n>4. Aided by a genetic algorithm, we find a trend towards the formation of irregular structures for larger n, with the exception of n=4, which exhibits a C3vground-state structure. Locating the global minima of the larger systems proves challenging.
authors.affiliation: Wilhelm-Ostwald-Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Leipzig, Linnéstrasse 2, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.|Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Wilhelm-Ostwald-Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Leipzig, Linnéstrasse 2, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.|Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Matias R
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4759-8110
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Fagiani
authors.affiliation: Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gewinner
authors.affiliation: Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Wieland
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schöllkopf
authors.affiliation: Wilhelm-Ostwald-Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Leipzig, Linnéstrasse 2, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Knut R
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6297-5856
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Asmis
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Bischoff
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sauer
keywords: aluminium oxide; cryogenic ion trap; density functional theory; gas phase clusters; infrared photodissociation