Sodium doped hydrogen bonded clusters: Solvated electrons and size selection

Neutral, sodium doped clusters feature special properties related to solvated electron formation which allow for a wide range of applications. In case of water, methanol and ethanol – but not for ammonia – the evolution of the ionization energy stops at small cluster sizes, reaching values similar to binding energies of solvated electrons in the liquid phase. Because of the appreciable lowering of the ionization energy, their photoionization can be performed free of fragmentation by standard lasers. This provides a very effective method for detection and, in combination with infrared excitation, for taking OH-stretch spectra of size selected, neutral clusters.