Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 21, 1587-1596 (2019).

Radiative cooling of cationic carbon clusters, C_N⁺, N = 8, 10, 13–16

F.-Q. Chen ^a, N. Kono ^b, R. Suzuki ^b, T. Furukawa ^b, H. Tanuma ^b, P. Ferrari ^c, T. Azuma ^d, J. Matsumoto ^e, H. Shiromaru ^e, V. Zhaunerchyk ^f and K. Hansen*^fg
aSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
^bDepartment of Physics, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minamiosawa, Hachiouji-shi, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
^cLaboratory of Solid State Physics and Magnetism, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
^dAtomic, Molecular & Optical Physics Laboratory, RIKEN, 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
^eDepartment of Chemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minamiosawa, Hachiouji-shi, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
^fDepartment of Physics, University of Gothenburg, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
^gCenter for Joint Quantum Studies and Department of Physics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. E-mail: KlavsHansen@tju.edu.cn

First published on 21st December 2018

Abstract:

The radiative cooling of highly excited carbon cluster cations of sizes N = 8, 10, 13–16 has been studied in an electrostatic storage ring. The cooling rate constants vary with cluster size from a maximum at N = 8 of 2.6 × 10⁴ s⁻¹ and a minimum at N = 13 of 4.4 × 10³ s⁻¹. The high rates indicate that photon emission takes place from electronically excited ions, providing a strong stabilizing cooling of the molecules.