IONIZATION OF WATER CLUSTERS BY COLLISION WITH SURFACE

New results of the investigations of the phenomenon of the ion formati on and separation at the neutral water cluster scattering by solid sur face are reported. First, molecular dynamics simulation has shown the possibility of polar dissociation of water molecules in (H2O)(n) clust er with n = 34 and 64 during their impact with a rigid surface. Second , the current of ions rebound from target and the current to the targe t at scattering of (H2O)(n) clusters (up to n = 50000) by various targ ets are measured. Third, we have measured the water-cluster-induced el ectrification of the electric field mill sensor, which has been used f or the rocket measurement of mesospheric electric field structure in t he vicinity of noctilucent clouds (NLC). A comparison between these an d rocket measurements shows that the fluctuations of the field mill si gnal detected when a rocket was passing the NLC layer is a result of t he impact of NLC particles on the field mill electrodes.