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Clustering of polar molecules (SO2) in a supersonic jet was investigated by simulation. The cluster size Nc was calculated under different gas backing pressures P0 and source temperatures T0. Based on these results, the dependence of Nc on P0 or T0 was compared with that for the gases of non-polar molecules. It is found that SO2 molecules condense very easily into clusters even when P0 is very low. This result implies that large clusters can be produced using polar molecules, which could be useful in the studies of laser-cluster interactions. Also, SO2 gas is an important component of air pollution, so the knowledge of the clustering properties of SO2 could be helpful in the study of air pollution and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a laser-cluster interaction experiment, the radial dimension of a supersonic gas jet is an important parameter for the characterization of interaction volume. It is noted that due to the lateral gas expansion, the diameter of a supersonic gas jet is larger than the idealized diameter of a gas jet from a conical nozzle. In this work the effect of the lateral expansion on the radial dimension of gas jet was investigated by simulations. Based on the simulation results, the diameter of gas jet l was compared in detail with the corresponding diameter lT in the idealized straight streamline model and the diameter lH at a half of maximum atom density of gas jet. The results reveal how the deviation of l from lT (lH) changes with respect to the opening angles of conical nozzles, the heights above the nozzle, the nozzle lengths and the gas backing pressures. It is found that the diameter of gas jet l is close to the idealized diameter lT and lH in the case where a long conical nozzle with a large opening angle is used under a low gas backing pressure. In this case, the effect of the lateral expansion is so weak that the edge of gas jet becomes sharp and the radial distribution of atom density in gas jet tends to be uniform. The results could be useful for the characterization of a supersonic gas jet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supersonic gas jets from conical nozzles are simulated using 2D model. The on-axis atom number density in gas jet is investigated in detail by comparing the simulated densities with the idealized densities of straight streamline model in scaling laws. It is found that the density is generally lower than the idealized one and the deviation between them is mainly dependent on the opening angle of conical nozzle, the nozzle length and the gas backing pressure. The density deviation is then used to discuss the deviation of the equivalent diameter of a conical nozzle from the idealized deq in scaling laws. The investigation on the lateral expansion of gas jet indicates the lateral expansion could be responsible for the behavior of the density deviation. These results could be useful for the estimation of cluster size and the understanding of experimental results in laser-cluster interaction experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]