Structures of small silver cluster cations (Agn+, n<12): ion mobility measurements versus density functional and MP2 calculations

We have performed ion mobility measurements on silver cluster cations Agn+ generated by pulsed laser vaporization. For clusters with n<12, experimental cross-sections are compared with theoretical results from density functional and MP2 (Møller–Plesset) calculations. This comparison allows structural assignment. We find that room temperature silver cluster cations have planar structures for n=3–4. Starting at n=5 they form three dimensional structures. The structures are compared with predictions by Bonačić-Koutecky et al. and the respective results obtained in a previous study for gold clusters.