Structural information from ion mobility measurements: applications to semiconductor clusters

Abstract

Ion mobility measurements are one of the few methods presently available that can directly probe the structures of relatively large molecules in the gas phase. Here we review the application of ion mobility methods to the elucidation of the structures of semiconductor clusters (Si_n, Ge_n, and Sn_n). We describe the new high-resolution implementation of the technique and the advanced methods of mobility calculations that are crucial for the correct analysis of the experimental data.