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C. Brechignac

Publications and source records attributed to C. Brechignac.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Stability of Small Neutral and Charged Strontium Clusters

Dissociation and fission of small neutral, singly and doubly charged strontium clusters are studied by means of ab initio density functional theory methods and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Magic numbers for small strontium clusters possessing enhanced stability towards monomer evaporation and fission are determined. It is shown that ionization of small strontium clusters results in the alteration of the magic numbers. Thermal promotion of the Coulombic fission for the Sr_7^{2+} cluster is predicted.

physics.atm-clus

Thermal quenching of electronic shells and channel competition in cluster fission

Experimental and theoretical studies of fission of doubly-charged Li, Na, and K clusters in the low fissility regime reveal the strong influence of electronic shell effects on the fission products. The electronic entropy controls the quenching of the shell effects and the competition between magic-fragment channels, leading to a transition from favored channels of higher mass symmetry to the asymmetric channel involving the trimer cation at elevated temperatures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Instability driven fragmentation of nanoscale fractal islands

Formation and evolution of fragmentation instabilities in fractal islands, obtained by deposition of silver clusters on graphite, are studied. The fragmentation dynamics and subsequent relaxation to the equilibrium shapes are controlled by the deposition conditions and cluster composition. Sharing common features with other materials' breakup phenomena, the fragmentation instability is governed by the length-to-width ratio of the fractal arms.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci