Pulsed-Field Ionization Zero-Kinetic-Energy Photoelectron Spectra of Ar(2)

Potential energy curves of diatomic molecular ions from high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy. I. The first six electronic states of Ar2+

High-resolution photoelectron spectroscopic data have been used to determine the potential energy curves of the first six electronic states of Ar2+. The potential energy functions properly include the effects of the long-range interactions and of the spin-orbit interaction and are of spectroscopic accuracy (1-2 cm(-1)) over a wide range of internuclear distances. The total number of adjustable parameters could be reduced to only 12 by truncating the long-range interaction series after the R(-6) term and assuming an R-independent spin-orbit coupling constant. This assumption was verified to be valid to an accuracy of +/-2 cm(-1) over the range of internuclear distances between 3.0 and 4.6 A. The interaction potential proposed by Siska [P. E. Siska, J. Chem. Phys. 85, 7497 (1986)] was generalized to a form that is expected to be sufficiently flexible to describe chemical bonding in other diatomic molecular ions. The potential energy curves are more accurate than the best available ab initio curves by two orders of magnitude and provide quantitative information on dissociation energies and equilibrium internuclear distances. The local maximum between the two potential wells of the I(1/2g) state was determined to lie 62 cm(-1) below the Ar(1S0)+Ar(+)(2P(3/2)) dissociation limit, and the II(1/2g) state is found to be significantly more bound (De=177 cm(-1)) than previously assumed.

Inert gas clusters ejected from bursting bubbles during sputtering

Ar(+)(n) cluster ions (n<or=6) produced during prolonged Ar+ ion surface bombardment of various sample materials at room temperature are shown to result from the ejection of neutral argon clusters following the rupture of high-pressure subsurface gas bubbles. Subsequent ion formation is shown to take place by resonant charge exchange with incident primary Ar+ ions in the gas phase up to at least 175 microm above the surface. Xe+2 clusters are similarly produced from Xe+-bombarded solids. The ion intensities of Ar+2 and Xe+2 are found to have a characteristic second-order dependence on primary Ar+ or Xe+ current density.