Dissociative charge transfer and collision induced dissociation of Ar2+ and Ar3+ clusters in collisions with argon atoms at keV energies.

The dynamics of dissociative charge transfer and collision induced dissociation of Ar(2) (+) and Ar(3) (+) clusters colliding with Ar atoms at 4.8 keV has been investigated using a novel multifragment detection scheme that maps the postcollision vectors of all particles simultaneously. Estimation of internal energies and measurement of pre- and postcollision vectors enables a full description of reaction dynamics. The prominence of electronic excitation in defining the dynamics of these collision systems is demonstrated. The dissociation dynamics of Ar(3) (+) clusters is distinctly different from that of Ar(2) (+). This is attributed to a combination of lower internal energies and predominantly triangular T-shape structure of the Ar(3) (+) ion.