Growth pattern of zirconium-carbon clusters. Further evidence for formation of multicage structures

Abstract A time-of-flight mass spectrometer coupled with a laser vaporization source is utilized to study the intensity distributions of metal-carbon clusters, namely, Zr m C n and Ta m C n . Two distinct cluster growth patterns are observed under the present experimental conditions. i.e. Zr m C n building through a metal:carbon ratio of 2:3 while Ta m C n through a 1:1 ratio. These different growth patterns lead to two completely different cluster distributions, observed magic numbers, and cluster structures. The Ta m C n clusters can be well accounted for by the formation of face-centered cubic (fcc) structures. Importantly, both the growth pattern and the magic numbers in the Zr m C n clusters are rigorously consistent with expectations for the formation of multicage structures.