Effects of solvation and core switching on the photoelectron angular distributions from (CO ₂) _n ^- and (CO ₂) _n ^-·H ₂O

The photodetachment of carbon-dioxide cluster anions with a special emphasis on the photoelectron angular distributions (PAD) was investigated. The imaging approach allowed a systematic examination of PAD which reflected the orbital nature of the different core structures. The study of PAD showed that solvation by several carbon-dioxide molecular and/or one water molecule has only moderate effect on the excess-electron orbitals. The observed PAD character was reconciled with the symmetry properties of the parent molecular orbitals, and the results showed remarkable similarities between the monomer and dimer anion cluster-core types.