Cluster beam analysis via photoionization

A photoionization method for quantitatively analyzing the neutral products of free jet expansions is described. The basic principle is to measure the yield of an ion characteristic of each component cluster at a photon energy just below that at which production of the same ion from larger clusters can be detected. Since there is then no problem with fragmentation, the beam density of each neutral cluster can be measured in the presence of larger clusters. Although these measurements must be done in the test ions' onset regions where their yields are often quite small, the technique is made highly practicable by the large intensities of widely tunable vacuum-ultraviolet synchrotron light now available at electron storage rings. As an example, the method is applied to the analysis of cluster beams collimated from the free jet expansion of a 200:1 ammonia-chlorobenzene mixture.