A versatile setup for studying size and charge-state selected polyanionic nanoparticles

Using the example of metal clusters, an experimental setup and procedure is presented, which allows for the generation of size and charge-state selected polyanions from monoanions in a molecular beam. As a characteristic feature of this modular setup, the further charging process via sequential electron attachment within a three-state digital trap takes place after mass-selection. In contrast to other approaches, the rf-based concept permits access to heavy particles. The procedure is highly flexible with respect to the preparation process and potentially suitable for a wide variety of anionic species. By adjusting the storage conditions, i.e., the radio frequency, to the change in the mass-to-charge ratio, we succeeded in producing clusters in highly negative charge states, i.e., Ag₈₀₀ ^7-. The capabilities of the setup are demonstrated by experiments extracting electronic and optical properties of polyanionic metal clusters by analyzing the corresponding photoelectron spectra.