Trapped metal cluster ions

An overview is given of experiments with stored metal cluster ions in a Penning trap system. The setup allows axial injection of clusters produced in an external source and a time-of-flight mass analysis of the reaction products after axial ejection. The system's options include the selection of stored ions, the manipulation of their orbits, addition of reactant and buffer gases and axial optical access for laser spectroscopic studies. As described by various examples, investigations have been made with respect to the development of trapping techniques and the characterization of metal clusters in terms of their physical and chemical properties.