Laser chemistry of organometallics as a general synthetic route to metal clusters

We show that gas-phase organometallics can be photolyzed using pulsed UV-visible lasers to initiate synthesis of metal clusters. We use the log-normal distribution function to compare this new method of cluster formation to other methods. Cluster size distributions produced using this new method bear a remarkable similarity to those produced using nozzle beam expansion methods. Although there is deviation from this distribution, these growth methods would seem to involve coalescence growth mechanisms as opposed to Ostwald ripening. Possible reasons for the deviation from a log-natural distribution are suggested. Laser chemistry allows synthesis of gas-phase metal clusters because of the very high pressures of metal atoms attainable using multiphoton dissociation of organometallics.