Reactions of sodium/antimony‐clusters with molecular chlorine in a flow‐tube‐reactor coupled to a time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer

Abstract

A gas aggregation technique is used to produce Na>by clusters. After passing a flow-tube reactor, the clusters are ionized with unfocused high fluence KrF-excimer laser radiation and then mass analyzed in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Dramatic changes are observed in the cluster ion distribution upon adding high purity chlorine gas into the flow tube. As a result of reactions with CI,, all Na>by clusters disappear while pure antimony cluster ions arise. The distribution patterns of the produced Sb,+ clusters are the same as those observed in experiments with pure antimony.