Faculty of Science
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User station FELICE 1: Intracavity molecular beam instrument for spectroscopy of strongly bound clusters and ions

This instrument is dedicated to experiments where gaseous molecules and ions are subject to intense IR radiation produced by the Free-Electron Laser for IntraCavity Experiments FELICE, thereby enabling e.g. action spectroscopy of even the strongest bound species in a molecular beam environment. The instrument focuses on the geometric and electronic structure of metal clusters which can be used to study bulk phenomena, or their interaction with ligand molecules as a model system for heterogeneous catalysts.

The instrument has two source chambers, of which one is equipped with a laser ablation source to produce metal clusters. The second source is equipped with a conventional molecular beam source. A Paul-type quadrupole ion trap with effusive beam source is also part of the instrument.

In a typical experiment, transition metal clusters (typically 3 to 50 atoms) are produced in a molecular beam with a home built Smalley-type laser ablation source and can be complexed with ligands in a flow-tube type reaction channel. The clusters then interact with one macropulse of FELICE, and are detected using time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

user station felice 1

Schematic layout of the FELICE intra-cavity experiment