International Journal of Mass Spectrometry 440, 14-19 (2019)

Magic numbers and stabilities of heavy water clusters, (D₂O)_ND⁺, N = 3 −48

K.Hansen^ab*  M.J.Ryding^c   E.Uggerud^d

^aCenter for Joint Quantum Studies School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
^bDept. of Physics, Gothenburg University, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
^cDepartment of Chemistry and Hylleraas Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1033 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo, Norway
^dDepartment of Chemistry and Hylleraas Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1033 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo, Norway

Abstract

The abundance spectrum of deuterated heavy water clusters has been measured, and relative dissociation energies were extracted from the abundances. The dissociation energies are similar to those of protonated light water clusters, except for a slightly reduced excess stability of the N = 21 cluster relative to the N = 22 cluster. The difference is interpreted in terms of the special geometry of the N = 21 cluster. The absence of a similar effect for N = 28/29 suggests that the stability of the N = 28 cluster is not due to a closed shell structure.

Graphical abstract