Coordination of Ti cation embedded in argon clusters

A laser vaporisation source and a time-of-flight mass spectrometer are used for the production and detection of Ti+Arn clusters. Parallel, density functional theory (DFT) calculations assist in extracting the structures of the first members of the series. The mass spectrum is dominated by one intense line of Ti+Ar6, for which the DFT calculations predict a regular octahedron. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.