SURFACE ENHANCED RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY OF MASS-SELECTED CARBON CLUSTERS DEPOSITED ON SILVER SURFACES

Mass‐selected C, C2, and C4 cations were ‘‘soft‐landed’’ on cold‐deposited Ag films and the SERS spectra of the resulting deposits measured as a function of coverage. Very little amorphous or graphitic carbon formation was observed even at ∼1 monolayer coverage. A band at 760 cm−1 observed only for deposited C+ and C+2 is assigned to isolated Ag–C moieties. A band at 2010 cm−1 is ascribed to a cluster or clusters larger than C3.