Hannover 2020 – scientific programme
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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik
MO 1: Clusters I (joint session MO/A)
MO 1.4: Talk
Monday, March 9, 2020, 12:00–12:15, f102
Geometry and Stability of Small Cationic Silicon Carbide Clusters — •Robert Radloff, Lars Dahllöf, Kai Pollow, Karim Ahmed Saroukh, Marko Förstel, and Otto Dopfer — Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik, Germany
Ejecta of carbon-rich stars contribute significantly to interstellar dust. The emitted particles are generally hot and consist of single atoms or ions. With increasing distance from the star, this matter cools down and starts to condense, eventually forming first molecules and creating a rich chemistry. Observations suggest not only small molecules like SiC [1], Si2C [2], SiC2 [3], etc. to be present in the circumstellar environment of carbon-rich stars but also solid silicon carbide grains [4]. Up to now, it has remained unclear how these dust grains are created. It seems likely that they form from small SiC molecules via condensation but no intermediates have been detected so far.
In this contribution we present the energetic, geometric, and optical properties of small cationic silicon carbide clusters obtained via photodissociation spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and quantum chemical calculations. We show the first optical spectrum of a silicon carbide cation and present hitherto unreported fragmentation channels and ground state geometries of several cationic silicon carbide clusters.
[1] J. Cernicharo et. al., Astrophys. J. Lett. 341, L25 (1989)
[2] J. Cernicharo et. al., Astrophys. J. Lett. 806, L3 (2015)
[3] P. Thaddeus et. al., Astrophys. J. Lett. 283, L45-48 (1984)
[4] R. Treffers and M. Cohen, Astrophys. J. 188, 545-552 (1974)