Beam depletion method for measuring velocity distributions of cluster beams

Abstract

A simple method to investigate the velocity distributions of cluster beams is presented. Following photon absorption, excited clusters are removed from the beam. This results in a reduced signal at the detector. Using time-resolved detection, all the parameters of the velocity distribution can be extracted from the signal shape. The technique is demonstrated for a neutral sodium cluster beam. An analytical calculation of the signal shape is in excellent agreement with the data.