Dissociation dynamics of I2⋅⋅⋅Ne<i>n</i> van der Waals clusters (<i>n</i>=1–9): A quasiclassical approach

Abstract

The dynamics of vibrational predissociation (VP) of van der Waals (vdW) I2⋅⋅⋅Nen clusters is studied by means of a quasiclassical trajectory approach. We assume a near-equilibrium geometry that accounts for the I2 stretch and the stretching and bending modes of the rare gas atoms restricted to move along a plane perpendicular to the I2 axis. A sharp increase of the halfwidth is observed for n=9 together with certain stability of the n=8 cluster size with respect to dissociation. It would indicate the existence of a first coordination shell for Ne around I2 containing eight atoms. In addition, the dissociation results less and less efficient as n increases and statistical mechanisms become important for the cluster sizes studied.