Spatial separation of state- and size-selected neutral clusters

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the spatial separation of indole(H2O) clusters from other species in a molecular beam using an electrostatic deflector, enabling detailed stereodynamic investigations of these hydrogen-bonded complexes.

Contribution

It introduces a method to selectively manipulate floppy molecular clusters using electric fields, achieving quantum-state selectivity in a supersonic beam.

Findings

Successful separation of indole(H2O) from other species.

Indole(H2O) behaves as a rigid molecule under experimental conditions.

Quantum-state selectivity results in low-lying rotational states.

Abstract

We demonstrate the spatial separation of the prototypical indole(H2O) clusters from the various species present in the supersonic expansion of mixtures of indole and water. The major molecular constituents of the resulting molecular beam are H2O, indole, indole(H2O), and indole(H2O)2. It is a priori not clear whether such floppy systems are amenable to strong manipulation using electric fields. Here, we have exploited the cold supersonic molecular beam and the electrostatic deflector to separate indole(H2O) from the other molecular species as well as the helium seed gas. The experimental results are quantitatively explained by trajectory simulations, which also demonstrate that the quantum-state selectivity of the process leads to samples of indole(H2O) in low-lying rotational states. The prepared clean samples of indole(H2O) are ideally suited for investigations of the stereodynamics of this complex system, including time-resolved half-collision and diffraction experiments of fixed-in-space clusters. Our findings clearly demonstrate that the hydrogen bonded indole(H2O) complex behaves as a rigid molecule under our experimental conditions and that it can be strongly deflected.