Stability effects of Au_nX_m ⁺ (X=Cu, Al, Y, In) clusters

Bimetallic Au_nX_m clusters (X=Cu, Al, Y, In) have been produced by a dual-target dual-laser vaporization source. Following multiphoton absorption the stability patterns resulting from fragmentation are investigated by time-of-flight mass abundance spectrometry. Au_nCu_m ⁺ clusters exhibit the same electronic shell effects as Au_n ⁺. Different abundance patterns are observed for Au_nAl₁ ⁺ compared to Au_nY₁ ⁺ or Au_nIn₁ ⁺. The patterns are related to the magic numbers of the electronic shell model for clusters. The differences between the bimetallic clusters are interpreted in terms of different cluster geometries dependent on the nature of the dopant atoms.