Non-nearest neighbour ICD in clusters

Abstract

Interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) is an electronic decay process of excited, ionized systems. It has been shown to occur in a multitude of small and large systems. The effects of more than one possible decay partner are discussed in detail illustrated by simulated ICD electron spectra of NeAr clusters and pure Ne clusters. Hereby, the mostly underestimated contribution of decay with non-nearest neighbours is highlighted. In the neon clusters, the lifetime of the bulk atoms is found to be in excellent agreement with experiment (Jahnke et al 2004 Phys. Rev. Lett. 93 173401) while the lifetimes of the surface atoms differ significantly. Hence, the experimental lifetime can not purely be explained by the effect of the number of neighbours. We propose the possibility to investigate the transition from small clusters to the solid state by using the ICD electron spectra to distinguish between icosahedral and cuboctahedral cluster structures.