Production of carbon clusters C₃ to C₁₂ with a cryogenic buffer-gas beam source

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 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 10¹¹-10¹² 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.