Pa. Hervieux et Dhe. Gross, EVAPORATION OF HOT MESOSCOPIC ATOMIC METAL-CLUSTERS, Zeitschrift fur Physik. D, Atoms, molecules and clusters, 33(4), 1995, pp. 295-299
The evaporation times of hot mesoscopic sodium clusters are estimated
using the microscopic and microcanonical statistical model of Weisskop
f and the macroscopic canonical kinetic gas theory. The level density
of liquid sodium clusters as function of the internal excitation energ
y is computed from the experimentally known thermodynamic quantities o
f the bulk matter. In using the known temperature dependent surface te
nsion and standard thermodynamics, both theories are corrected to take
into account finite size effects. By this method it is possible to ob
tain decay rates and internal level densities of mesoscopic clusters a
t excitations where any harmonic approximation breaks down. For cluste
rs having more than about 200 atoms, the evaporation times obtained fr
om the two models are practically equal.