Coronene cluster experiments: Stability and thermodynamics

Neutral coronene clusters are produced in a gas aggregation source at 77 K. They are excited either by a UV-laser in vacuum or thermally by a heat bath of helium. Fragmentations of clusters and molecules are investigated. Two well-separated thermodynamic regimes have been found for the evaporation of coronene from the cluster and the fragmentation of the coronene molecule. The stability of the cluster has been measured and the distribution of inner energies on inner- and intermolecular modes has been deduced.