Al{sub 3}O{sub y} (y=0{endash}5) clusters: Sequential oxidation, metal-to-oxide transformation, and photoisomerization
- Department of Physics, Washington State University, 2710 University Drive, Richland, Washington 99352-1671 (United States)
Photoelectron spectra of a series of Al{sub 3}O{sub y}{sup {minus}} clusters (y=0{endash}5) are presented at several photon energies: 532, 355, 266, and 193 nm. The electron affinities and low-lying electronic states of the Al{sub 3}O{sub y} clusters are reported. The photoelectron spectra clearly reveal a sequential oxidation behavior and how the electronic structure of the clusters evolves from that of a metal cluster at Al{sub 3} to that of a complete oxide cluster at Al{sub 3}O{sub 5}: Two valence electrons of Al{sub 3} are observed to be transferred to each additional O atom until Al{sub 3}O{sub 5}, where all the nine valence electrons of Al{sub 3} are transferred to the five O atoms. The anion, Al{sub 3}O{sub 5}{sup {minus}}, which can be viewed as (Al{sup 3+}){sub 3}(O{sup 2{minus}}){sub 5}, is found to be a closed shell cluster, yielding an extremely high electron affinity for Al{sub 3}O{sub 5} (4.92 eV). The electron affinities of the remaining clusters are: 1.90 (Al{sub 3}), 1.57 eV (Al{sub 3}O), 2.18 eV (Al{sub 3}O{sub 2}), 2.80 eV (Al{sub 3}O{sub 3}), and 3.58 eV (Al{sub 3}O{sub 4}). An electronic excited state of Al{sub 3}{sup {minus}} is also observed at 0.40 eV above the Al{sub 3}{sup {minus}} ground state. Isomers are observed for all the oxide clusters with lower electron affinities. Particularly, vibrational structures are observed for the two isomers of Al{sub 3}O{sub 3}{sup {minus}}, as well as a photoisomerization process between the two isomers. The structure and bonding of the oxide clusters are discussed based on the experimental data and the known structures for Al{sub 3} and Al{sub 3}O. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 636143
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 109, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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