Spatial separation of molecular conformers and clusters.

Area of Science:

• Molecular Physics
• Physical Chemistry
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Supersonic expansions are standard for producing cold molecular beams in physics and chemistry.
• These beams often contain unwanted conformers and clusters, complicating experiments.
• Current methods lack efficient ways to separate these beam components.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an experimental method for spatially separating components of molecular beams.
• To enable the isolation of specific conformers and cluster sizes.
• To facilitate the study of solvation and molecular properties with pure samples.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing an electric deflector that exploits the Stark effect in an inhomogeneous electric field.
• Separating polar neutral molecules and clusters based on their mass-to-dipole moment ratio.
• Selecting the coldest molecules by exploiting the larger deflection of low-energy rotational states.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated spatial separation of different conformers based on distinct dipole moments.
• Enabled selection of specific cluster stoichiometries by mass and dipole moment.
• Achieved production of conformationally pure samples from molecular beams.
• Isolated specific cluster sizes for systematic solvation studies.

Conclusions:

• The electric deflector provides a powerful tool for molecular beam manipulation.
• This technique allows for the production of pure molecular and cluster samples.
• Enables new avenues for studying molecular interactions and properties in detail.