STATISTICAL SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF LASER-GENERATED CARBON CLUSTERS

Carbon clusters are generated by direct laser vaporization and studied by using time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The size distributions of carbon clusters are found to vary with the samples and the experimental conditions. By using the statistical distribution model, and in the light of the application of the 'Huckel rule' as well as the 'magic numbers' which appeared in the mass spectrum, different isomer structures of the carbon clusters are assigned. The results describe and identify the structural transitions of carbon clusters, from linear chains to rings and to fullerenes, as a function of the cluster size.