nevertheless some generic trends. Optical spectra are generally much more fragmented below and even more so above IP. Pure carbon systems contain besides covalent binding a fraction of metallic binding which produces also plasmon structures amongst the highly fragmented spectrum.

Optical response is the key to understanding the coupling of the system to laser light, at least in the frequency-dominated regime (see Secs. \[sec:lasers\] and \[sec:mecha\]). This will constitute a mostly used tool of investigation of dynamical scenarios in the following discussions. Before introducing the actual observables which can be attained that way, we will briefly discuss present days capabilities of lasers and the description of the electromagnetic fields they deliver. This aspect is addressed in the following Sec. \[sec:lasers\].

On excitation mechanisms {#sec:lasers}
------------------------

Cluster dynamics requires excitation of the cluster formerly resting in its ground state. In this paper, we will exclusively addess excitation by electromagnetic fields, predominantly by laser pulses and in a few cases by short pulses from collisions with highly charged ions. The corresponding excitation mechanisms are shortly explained in this section. Thereby, we focus on laser properties and finally address ion collisions in a short paragrph.

### Laser pulse characteristics {#sec:las_pulse}

Laser science has 