Bismuth carbide cluster ions produced by a gas aggregation source

Abstract Bismuth carbide cluster ions, Bi n C 2 n + ( n  = 3–11), were produced using a gas aggregation source. Reactions of neutral Bi clusters with hydrocarbon gases having unsaturated C–C bonds (C 2 H 2 , C 2 H 4 , and C 2 H 2 F 2 ) followed by laser ionization can produce Bi n C 2 n + in a gas phase. Bismuth carbide clusters smaller than Bi 3 C 6 + were not found. Even-odd alternation in the stabilities of the cluster ions was observed, and the abundance of cluster ions with odd number of n in Bi n C 2 n + was enhanced in the TOF-mass spectra. Density functional calculations of the Bi n C 2 n + were performed in order to estimate the geometries of the cluster ions and the stability dependence on the cluster size.