Energy redistribution in cluster–surface collision: I2− (CO2)n onto silicon surface

Abstract
Fragmentation of I2(CO2)n (n=1−30) by its collision on a silicon surface was investigated by measuring the fragment anions and their translational energy parallel to the surface (surface–parallel translational energy) in a tandem time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer equipped with a collision chamber evacuated down to ∼10−8 Pa. At the collision energy (per I2) of 50 eV and the incident angle of 26° with respect to the surface normal, the distributions of the surface–parallel translational energies of the fragment anions from a given parent cluster anion were found to obey the one‐dimensional Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution with the same translational temperature, Ts The results show that the cluster anion and its neighboring surface atoms reach quasiequilibrium before the fragment anions leave the surface. A general increasing trend of Ts (6000–12 000 K) with n is interpreted as an increasing extent of cluster–impact heating with n, while the reduction of Ts in the 13≤n≤∼19 range is attributable to efficient transmission of the I and I2 translational energies to the CO2 solvent cage. The effective volume and pressure of I2(CO2)n colliding on the surface were estimated; at n=10, the volume and the pressure were 100 nm3 and 10 MPa, respectively.