Selecting the size of helium nanodroplets using time-resolved probing of a pulsed helium droplet beam.

We show that helium nanodroplets generated using a pulsed valve undergo velocity dispersion according to their size. This makes it possible to use temporal selection to probe nanodroplets of a particular size within the pulsed gas profile rather than changing the expansion conditions as is done when using continuous helium nanodroplet sources. The variation in mean droplet size achievable within a single gas pulse can extend over more than an order of magnitude.