Dissociative charge transfer and collision induced dissociation of $Ar2+$ and $Ar3+$ clusters in collisions with argon atoms at keV energies

The dynamics of dissociative charge transfer and collision induced dissociation of $Ar2+$ and $Ar3+$ clusters colliding with Ar atoms at $4.8keV$ has been investigated using a novel multifragment detection scheme that maps the postcollision vectors of all particles simultaneously. Estimation of internal energies and measurement of pre- and postcollision vectors enables a full description of reaction dynamics. The prominence of electronic excitation in defining the dynamics of these collision systems is demonstrated. The dissociation dynamics of $Ar3+$ clusters is distinctly different from that of $Ar2+$⁠. This is attributed to a combination of lower internal energies and predominantly triangular T-shape structure of the $Ar3+$ ion.