Small Clusters: Aerosol Precursors

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Abstract
Studies of the structure, stability, electronic properties, and formation kinetics of small clusters provide information useful in furthering an understanding of nucleation processes, the formation and stability of colloidal media, and the nature of surfaces. Using mass spectrometry, coupled with various high pressure ion clustering and molecular beam techniques, the details of the primary clustering steps leading to nucleation from the vapor are obtained by direct observation. This paper is devoted to a review of some recent results on these subjects obtained in the authors' laboratory.