The formation mechanism of clusters produced by laser ablation of solid sodium azide

The mass spectra of sodium azide (NaN3) cluster ions, produced by 532 nm laser ablation of a solid NaN3 sample, were measured by a time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. The spectra showed that most of the cluster ions could be ascribed to the following series: Na-n(-), (NaN3)(n)(-), Na(NaN3)(n)(-), N-3(NaN3)(n)(-), Na-n(+), Na-n(NaN3)(+) and Na-2(NaN3)(n)(+). According to the possible distribution of the ions, possible formation mechanisms of NaN3 clusters are proposed.