KINETIC METHODS FOR QUANTIFYING MAGIC

Two methods are described for obtaining activation energies for evaporation from isolated clusters. They involve measurements of (1) kinetic energy distributions during evaporation and (2) metastable decay probabilities. The two methods supplement each other and can be applied to data garnered in the same apparatus. The methods are illustrated with applications to data in the literature on copper and carbon clusters. An even/odd alternation in evaporation energies from the copper clusters is consistent with a similar alternation in electron affinities, but not with elementary theory. Thermodynamic properties of carbon clusters are also deduced and discussed.