Electron-impact-induced dissociation of small argon clusters.

We study electron-impact-induced dissociation of small van der Waals-bound argon complexes at a projectile energy of 120 eV. Kinetic-energy-release (KER) spectra of the Ar2 and Ar3 parent species for the final charge states 2Ar+, Ar++Ar2+, and Ar2++Ar+ and electron energies have been measured together with angular distributions of fragment ions. They are used to identify dissociation mechanisms such as interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]