Silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide negative cluster ions are produced by laser
vaporization followed by free supersonic expansion. Electron affinities (EA) of the
corresponding neutral clusters are roughly bracketed by measuring the fluence dependence
for photodetachment from anions at discrete probe laser wavelengths (above the
photodetachment threshold the dependence on fluence is linear, below it is quadratic). An
even/odd alternation is found in the negative ion distribution with gallium arsenide clusters …