FORMATION OF NEGATIVE CLUSTERS BY ELECTRON-ATTACHMENT IN THE THERMAL-ENERGY RANGE

Different experimental approaches for the production of negatively cha rged van der Waals clusters are reviewed, with emphasis on crossing be am techniques. Laser excited Rydberg atoms constitute a source of elec trons with tunable well-defined energy in the thermal range (5-300 meV ). Different mechanisms occuring in the cluster anions are considered: creation, dissociation, electron autodetachment, evaporation, interna l energy exchanges and solvation effects in homogenous and inhomogenou s molecular clusters.