Organic and Inorganic Compounds Synthesized by Laser Vaporization

Nanoparticles continue to be widely studied due to their many properties and applications.  Ultra-small inorganic clusters comprised of aluminum and phosphorus were produced using a laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometer (LD-TOF MS).  Samples were pressed pellets as opposed to the typical thin films.  Observed clusters had electron counts which correspond to the “closo,” “nido,” and “arachno” polyhedral structures defined in Wade’s Rules, thus categorizing them as Zintl ions.  Density functional theory (DFT) was used to predict the lowest energy structure of each cluster size.  Also by laser vaporization of pellets, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) perylene and coronene were seen to polymerize without the implementation of prior treatment such as irradiation or pyrolysis.  The effect on byproducts produced was investigated by diluting the PAH with carbon and non-carbon containing compounds.