Experimental Studies of the Excess Electron in Molecular Clusters

实验物理化学项目和化学仪器项目支持约翰逊教授进行大小选择簇阴离子的实验研究。本工作将着重研究带负电荷的水团簇，即水合电子的团簇模拟物。正在研究的具体问题包括可见吸收光谱随团簇大小的演变以及在团簇中捕获电子的弛豫过程。在涉及大小选择的簇阴离子的碰撞中，过剩电子的反应正在被研究。关于团簇形态的大小依赖性以及各种吸附分子从团簇表面向团簇内部扩散的信息也正在获得。高分辨率光谱学也被用于表征较小的双星团的结构。

The Experimental Physical Chemistry Program and the Chemical Instrumentation Program support Professor Johnson in experimental studies of size-selected cluster anions. The work will emphasize the investigation of negatively charged water clusters, the cluster analogue of the hydrated electron. Specific issues being investigated include the evolution of the visible absorption spectrum with cluster size and the relaxation processes that trap the electron in the cluster. Reactions of the excess electron are being studied in collisions involving size-selected cluster anions. Information is also being obtained on the size dependence of cluster morphology and on the diffusion of various adsorbate molecules from the cluster surface into the cluster interior. High resolution spectroscopy is also being used to characterize the structure of smaller binary clusters.