Studies of the metastable decay of met-cars: The vanadium and niobium systems

Abstract The decay fractions and metastable decomposition channels were measured for V m C + n and Nb m C + n clusters using a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer. These measurements for the V m C + n clusters reveal stable (8, 12) and (8, 13) met-car species. However, under the present experimental conditions, the Nb m C + n clusters display dominantly cubic structures, but the decay fraction and metastable decomposition measurements also show the presence of a stable (8, 12) species in the parent cluster spectrum. This evidence indicates that cubic structures and met-cars are being formed simultaneously for the niobium system.