How did a laser-supersonic cluster beam apparatus help researchers study carbon clusters?

The laser-supersonic cluster beam apparatus, developed by Richard Smalley, was instrumental in the study of carbon clusters by enabling researchers to simulate the chemical conditions found in the atmospheres of giant stars.1

The apparatus functioned through the following process:

• Vaporization: An intense laser beam was directed onto a solid surface of graphite, vaporizing the material into a plasma of atoms.12
• Cooling and Cluster Formation: The vaporized carbon was carried by an inert gas, such as helium, through a high-pressure nozzle. This rapid expansion cooled the gas, causing the atoms to condense into clusters—aggregates ranging from tens to many tens of atoms.12
• Analysis: Once formed, these clusters could be ionized and analyzed using mass spectrometry to determine their size and relative abundance.3

This technique allowed scientists to confirm the production of carbon chains and led to the serendipitous discovery of the exceptionally stable $C_{60}$ cluster, which was later identified as a spheroidal closed cage.1