Production of carbon clusters $\text{C}_3$ to $\text{C}_{12}$ with a cryogenic buffer-gas beam source

• Main Authors: Straatsma, Cameron J. E, Fabrikant, Maya I, Douberly, Gary E, Lewandowski, Heather J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 11.07.2017
• Subjects: Physics - Chemical Physics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1707.03312

Cryogenic buffer-gas beam sources are capable of producing intense beams of a wide variety of molecules, and have a number of advantages over traditional supersonic expansion sources. In this work, we report on a neon matrix isolation study of carbon clusters produced with a cryogenic buffer-gas beam source. Carbon clusters created by laser ablation of graphite are trapped in a neon matrix and detected with a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer in the spectral range $4000-1000~\text{cm}^{-1}$. Through a study of carbon cluster production as a function of various system parameters, we characterize the behavior of the buffer-gas beam source and find that approximately $10^{11}-10^{12}$ of each cluster is produced with each pulse of the ablation laser. These measurements demonstrate the usefulness of cryogenic buffer-gas beam sources for producing molecular beams of clusters.