Organometallic lanthanide complexes of Ln
n
(C8H8)
m
(Ln = lanthanide metals of Ce, Nd, Eu, Ho,
and Yb; C8H8 = 1,3,5,7-cyclooctatetraene) were produced by a combination of laser vaporization and molecular
beam methods. The complexes having (n, m) = (n, n + 1) for n = 1−5 were prominently produced as magic
numbers in the mass spectra. Using mass spectrometry, photoionization spectroscopy, and photoelectron
spectroscopy, it is concluded that these magic-numbered complexes form multiple decker sandwich structures
in which Ln atoms and C8H8 molecules are alternately piled up. The obtained spectroscopic data show that
these sandwich complexes are formed through ionic bonds and are charge transfer complexes, where the Ln
atoms are multiply charged cations of Ln
k
+ (k = 2 and 3) and C8H8 molecules are multiply charged anions.