Statistical size distribution of laser generated clusters Original Research Article

A variety of cluster ions are generated from laser vaporization of solid samples and recorded by mass spectrometry. Based on studying mass spectra of a large number of clusters and in the light of the statistical analysis of the cluster formation mechanism, we successfully applied the statistical distribution model to study binary and multi-elemental clusters. In general, the composition of clusters can be defined as a general formula ABnCm…, where A is a charged cluster nucleus and B, C, … are neutral building blocks of the cluster. Each group of clusters with different nucleus A corresponds to a lognormal distribution curve in the recorded mass spectrum of cluster ions. Examples in this paper demonstrate the power and potential of this approach in characterizing laser generated cluster ions.