US-Austria Cooperative Research: Production and Stability (Unimolecular Decay) of Singly and Multiply Charged vdW Cluster Ions

该奖项支持宾夕法尼亚州立大学的A. W. Castleman, Jr.教授与奥地利因斯布鲁克大学的T. D. Maerk教授继续合作，以加强他正在进行的国内化学物理学研究。这些研究人员对了解大气中气溶胶的形成和化学性质有共同的兴趣。他们合作的重点是研究由各种技术产生的各种化学系统的簇离子的产生、稳定性和反应性。奥地利的实验使用电子冲击电离来产生簇离子，并可以识别连续的衰变过程，而美国的实验室使用光电离，可以研究更长时间的解离。美国小组采用飞行时间质谱技术，而奥地利小组使用双聚焦扇形场质谱仪来研究类似的现象。这些技术是互补的，并提供不同的功能，从而对所考虑的过程进行更完整的描述。气相团簇由原子和/或分子的弱结合聚集体组成，通常表现出介于气体和凝聚态之间的性质。对星团的研究不仅在连接气相和凝聚态方面有价值，而且还很有趣，因为它们包含了一种新的物质状态，从基本的角度来看，人们对这种状态的兴趣日益浓厚。此外，由于它们在许多应用和技术领域的潜在作用，它们也很重要。这个快速发展的新领域需要并受益于各种各样的实验工具的应用和来自不同学科的科学家的互动。拟议的合作在这两个方面都提供了独特的机会，正如他们以前合作的生产力所充分证明的那样。

This award supports Professor A. W. Castleman, Jr., of the Pennsylvania State University, for continued collaboration with Professor T. D. Maerk of the University of Innsbruck, Austria, to enhance his ongoing domestic research in chemical physics. These investigators share an interest in understanding the formation and chemistry of aerosols in the atmosphere. The focus of their collaboration is a study of the production, stability and reactivity of cluster ions of a wide variety of chemical systems produced by various techniques. The Austrian experiment uses electron impact ionization to produce cluster ions and can identify sequential decay processes, while the American lab uses photoionization and can investigate dissociation over a longer time. The American group employs time-of-flight mass spectrometric techniques, while the Austrian group uses a double focussing sector field mass spectrometer to study similar phenomena. The techniques are complementary and furnish different capabilities that result in a more complete description of the processes under consideration. Gas phase clusters comprised of weakly bound aggregates of either atoms and/or molecules often display properties that lie between the gas and condensed state. Studies of clusters are not only of value in terms of bridging the gas and condensed phase, but are also interesting since they comprise a new state of matter in which there is intense and growing interest from a fundamental point of view. Furthermore, they are also important due to their potential role in many fields of application and technology. This new and rapidly growing field requires and benefits from the application of a wide variety of experimental tools and the interaction of scientists coming from different disciplines. The proposed collaboration provides unique opportunities in both regards, as amply demonstrated by the productivity of their previous collaboration.