Collision-induced dissociation processes of Nb4+ and Fe4+: fission vs. evaporation

Journal ArticleDespite the extensive effort devoted to research on gasphase metal clusters, quantitative thermodynamic data on such species are scarce. Such information is key to understanding and predicting the physical and chemical properties of clusters. Presently, bond energies are available primarily for transition metal1 dimers2 and some trimers,3 although ionization potentials have been measured for a broader range of sizes.