Fragmentation patterns of ionized C₅^Q+ clusters (Q = 1 → 4)

A new experimental set-up has been built allowing, for the first time, the complete collection, event by event, of all fragments resulting from the dissociation of C-5(Q+) clusters (Q = 1-->4). These ionized species were created either by dissociative excitation (Q = 1) or ionization (Q = 2, 3, 4 for single, double and triple ionization respectively) of incident 10 MeV C-5(+) ions colliding with an He target. The fragmentation pattern of C-5(+) is found to be radically different from the one observed in photoexcitation or in low velocity collisions. Results concerning the fragmentation of C-5(Q+) clusters with Q greater than or equal to 2, for which no data existed up to now, exhibit a large variety in the possible fragmentation channels.