LOW-ENERGY DECAY PATHWAYS OF DOUBLE CHARGED SILVER CLUSTERS AG-N(2-24)() (N=9)

The low-energy dissociation channels of mass selected silver cluster i ons Ag-n(2+) (n = 9 - 24) are determined by collision induced dissocia tion (CID) in a Penning trap. While all clusters of the size n greater than or equal to 17 evaporate neutral monomers, most smaller clusters undergo asymmetric fisc;nn of the form Ag-n(2+) --> Ag-n-3(+) + Ag-3( +). However, Ag-15(2+) and Ag-11(2+) emit monomers which indicates she ll or odd-even effects. The observed fragmentation pathways are differ ent from previous reports of measurements with sputtered Ag-n(2+).