Production of heterogeneous super alkali clusters LinF (n=2-6) by Knudsen cell Mass Spectrometry

The superalkali clusters are important because they can be considered as potential building block for the assembly of novel nanostructured materials with unique structural, electronic, optical, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties. We have modified and used the Knudsen cell mass spectrometer in order to obtain and measurement of the ionization potentials of the superalkali clusters. In this work the clusters LinF (n = 2 – 6) have produces in the vapor over a mixture of lithium fluoride and lithium iodide by means of Knudsen cell which is placed into ionization chamber of the magnetic sector mass spectrometer. The simultaneous production and mass spectrometric detection of the ionic of clusters provide information on the conditions of formation and the distribution of these ion species. It is observed that the ions of clusters with an even numbered of lithium atoms are more stable than the ions of clusters with an odd numbered of lithium atoms. The clusters Li5F and Li6F were detected experimentally for the first time with their ionization energies of (4.29±0.25) eV, and (4.24±0.25) eV, respectively.