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Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Computation of Atmospheric Concentrations of Molecular Clusters from ab initio Thermochemistry
Published on: April 8, 2020
Ionization of Water Clusters Mediated by Exciton Energy Transfer from Argon Clusters
1Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
Abstract:
The exciton energy deposited in an argon cluster (Arn, ⟨n = 20⟩) using VUV radiation is transferred to softly ionize doped water clusters ((H2O)n, n = 1-9), leading to the formation of nonfragmented clusters. Following the initial excitation, electronic energy is channeled to ionize the doped water cluster while evaporating the Ar shell, allowing identification of fragmented and complete water cluster ions. Examination of the photoionization efficiency curve shows that cluster evaporation from excitons located above 12.6 eV is not enough to cool the energized water cluster ion and leads to their dissociation to (H2O)n-2H(+) (protonated) clusters.
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