GAS-PHASE CHEMICAL-KINETICS OF SMALL METAL-CLUSTERS - DEVELOPMENT ANDCHARACTERIZATION OF A FAST-FLOW REACTOR FOR NEUTRAL CLUSTERS

The development and characterization of a new fast-flow reactor for th e study of the gas-phase chemical kinetics of small metal clusters is reported. The flow reactor has been designed to study the reactivity o f well-thermalized clusters over a range of well-determined pressures in order to obtain quantitative absolute kinetic rate constants, espec ially in the low pressure limit. The apparatus has been characterized and proven through die study of known reactions of atoms and is capabl e of measuring bimolecular rate constants ranging five orders of magni tude down from gas kinetic at total pressures from 0.2 to 6 Torr. Appl ication to the study of cluster kinetics has been demonstrated by meas urements made on reactions of the copper dimer, Cu2.