Electronic and magnetic properties of free and supported transition metal clusters

The spin-polarized relativistic version of the multiple scattering or the Korringa–Kohn–Rostoker method for electronic structure calculations has been used to study the electronic and magnetic properties of free and supported transition metal clusters. Corresponding results are presented for the spin- and spin–orbit-induced orbital magnetic moments in free Fe and FePt clusters. For both systems a pronounced enhancement is found for the spin as well as for the orbital moments compared with the corresponding bulk value which diminishes in an oscillatory fashion with increasing cluster size. Corresponding investigations on small Co clusters deposited on a Pt (111) surface also revealed a strong dependence of the magnetic properties on the cluster size and shape. A comparison of our theoretical results with available experimental data led to rather satisfying agreement.     

硅团簇熔化行为的紧束缚分子动力学研究

利用紧束缚分子动力学方法研究了硅团簇Si_n(n=5—10)的熔化行为.给出了团簇 熔化潜热 和熔点随团簇尺寸的变化关系，表明团簇熔化潜热和熔点强烈依赖于团簇的原子数.计算结 果表明硅团簇熔化机理与金属团簇熔化有很大不同，金属小团簇的熔化是一个从低温类固态 向高温类固态转变的过程，在转变温区，类固态和类液态处于动力学共存，而硅团簇在转变 温区则是处于一种中间态，这种中间态既不是类固态又不是类液态.比较了用不同计算方法 和定义方法所得硅团簇熔点. 关键词： 紧束缚 硅团簇 熔化潜热     

The Electronic and Magnetic Properties of FCC Iron Clusters in FCC 4D Metals

The electronic and magnetic structures of small FCC iron clusters in FCC Rh, Pd and Ag were calculated using the discrete variational method as a function of cluster size and lattice relaxation. It was found that unrelaxed iron clusters, remain ferromagnetic as the cluster sizes increase, while for relaxed clusters antiferromagnetism develops as the size increases depending on the host metal. For iron in Rh the magnetic structure changes from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic for clusters as small as 13 Fe atoms, whereas for Fe in Ag antiferromagnetism is exhibited for clusters of 24 Fe atoms. On the hand, for Fe in Pd the transition from ferromagnetism to antiferromagnetism occurs for clusters as large as 42 Fe atoms. The difference in the magnetic trends of these Fe clusters is related to the electronic properties of the underlying metallic matrix. The local d densities of states, the magnetic moments and hyperfine parameters are calculated in the ferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic regions. In addition, the average local moment in iron-palladium alloys is calculated and compared to experimental results.     

Chiral structures and tunable magnetic moments in 3d transition metal doped Pt₆ clusters

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of transition metal doped platinum clusters MPt 6 (M=Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn) are systematically studied by using the relativistic all-electron density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation. Most of the doped clusters show larger binding energies than the pure Pt 7 cluster, which indicates that the doping of the transition metal atom can stabilize the pure platinum cluster. The results of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gaps suggest that the doped clusters can have higher chemical activities than the pure Pt 7 cluster. The magnetism calculations demonstrate that the variation range of the magnetic moments of the MPt 6 clusters is from 0 μ B to 7 μ B , revealing that the MPt 6 clusters have potential utility in designing new spintronic nanomaterials with tunable magnetic properties.     

Interfacial reaction rates and free energy of cubic clusters

A new formulation of interfacial reaction rates for clusters in binary alloys is presented. It accounts for the matrix structure and the topological properties of the clusters at the atomic scale. It is shown that the probabilities per unit time that a solute atom be captured or released by a cluster are functions not only of the partition function but also of a transition function. The principles of calculation of these functions are general but only the case of cubic clusters is treated here (results can be used for L₁₂ clusters in fcc matrices). Exact calculations have been done for small clusters (size<10), followed by a Monte-Carlo sampling method for intermediate sizes as a function of temperature and interaction energy (a material characteristic). Finally, it is shown that generic results can be extrapolated at higher cluster size in a large range of temperature and/or interaction energy.     

The catalytic activity of chemisorbed oxygen and carbon monoxide species on palladium and related metals investigated using SCF-Xα-SW calculations

Theoretical calculations of the electronic structure of small clusters modelling the adsorption of carbon monoxide on nickel and palladium and the adsorption of oxygen on palladium and platinum have been carried out using the SCF-Xα-SW method. Our results for the carbon monoxide-nickel clusters are in good agreement with earlier work. Comparing the carbon monoxide-nickel with the carbon monoxide-palladium results, suggests that the ordering of CO-derived cluster orbitals is the same in both cases but that the relative shifts are much different. In addition, the oxygen atom participates more significantly in the cluster containing palladium. An analysis of optical transition energies for Ni₅CO and Pd₅CO clusters is given and discussed in terms of experimental data regarding photodesorption of carbon monoxide. In the case of oxygen atoms in platinum and palldium clusters, we have used two different M₅O geometries: one in which the five metal atoms are in a single plane and oxygen is directly over a single metal atom (Type A) and a second in which the oxygen atom is coordinated to four sur face metal atoms and is directly over a metal atom in the second layer (Type B). The levels calculated for the Pd50 type B cluster are in good agreement with available UPS data. Significant differences in type A and type B clusters are noted for palladium. The results can be correlated with experimental Auger spectroscopic and kinetic data. In particular, the type A oxygen cor relates well with an experimentally observed very reactive species, while type B oxygen cor relates well with a quite unreactive species. These two types also correlate with two species observed by Auger spectroscopy.     

稳态Cu-Zr二十面体团簇电子结构的密度泛函研究

采用第一原理对以Cu为心的低能稳态Cu_nZ_(r13-n)(n=6,7,8,9)二十面体团簇的电子结构进行计算,结果表明:同一化学组分下,以Cu为心的Cu-Zr二十面体团簇中出现的同类原子聚集现象可以增强团簇的稳定性,降低费米能级(EF)上的电子数N(EF),这为低能稳态团簇拥有较小的N(EF)提供了深层次的理论解释.进一步的差分电子密度与Mulliken布居分析得知,Cu-Zr二十面体中共价键与离子键共存,成键态与反键态共存,且团簇在形成时壳层Zr与中心Cu原子是电子的提供者,壳层Cu是电子的获得者.该电荷转移方向是金属玻璃中以Cu为心的Cu-Zr二十面体团簇普遍遵循的规律,不随团簇的化学序参数及化学组分的变化而变化.计算的红外振动谱为实验上准确表征不同二十面体原子团提供了一种新的思路.     

Magic numbers in metallo-inorganic clusters: chromium encapsulated in silicon cages

A systematic theoretical study of the equilibrium geometries and total energies of Cr encapsulated in Si clusters reveals that Cr@Si(12) is more stable than its neighbors. The origin of this enhanced stability is consistent with the 18-electron sum rule commonly used in the synthesis of stable chemical complexes, and may provide a criterion for a systematic search of magic numbers in metalloinorganic clusters. The 6 mu(B) magnetic moment of the caged Cr atom, the largest among the 3d transition metal atoms, is completely quenched. This effect of caging on the properties of transition metal atoms may lead to the synthesis of novel cluster based materials.     

Structure determination of isolated metal clusters via far-infrared spectroscopy

We present a new method for the size selective structure determination of small isolated metal clusters in the gas phase. The technique is applied to cationic vanadium clusters containing 6 to 23 atoms, whose far infrared absorption spectra are measured in the 140-450 cm(-1) spectral range. The spectra are unique for each cluster size and are true fingerprints of the cluster's structure. By comparing the experimental spectra to spectra obtained from density-functional theory, the geometric cluster structure can be identified.     

Chiral structures and tunable magnetic moments in 3d transition metal doped Pt6 clusters

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of transition metal doped platinum clusters MPt6 （M=Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn） are systematically studied by using the relativistic all-electron density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation. Most of the doped clusters show larger binding energies than the pure Pt7 cluster, which indicates that the doping of the transition metal atom can stabilize the pure platinum cluster. The results of the highest occupied molecular orbital （HOMO） lowest unoccupied molecular orbital （LUMO） gaps suggest that the doped clusters can have higher chemical activities than the pure Pt7 cluster. The magnetism calculations demonstrate that the variation range of the magnetic moments of the MPt6 clusters is from 0 μB to 7 μB, revealing that the MPt6 clusters have potential utility in designing new spintronic nanomaterials with tunable magnetic properties.     

非晶态合金Fe80P20局域结构和性质的量子化学研究

利用原子簇模型Fe_4P简化了非晶态合金Fe_(80)P_(20)的局域结构,设计了四方锥、三角双锥、四面体及平面五边形等十几种构型,对其二、四重态分别进行密度泛函(DFT)优化计算,经过频率验证,获得五种稳定构型。从所得优化构型的键长和键级,可以发现原子簇Fe4P较好地反映了非晶态合金Fe_(80)P_(20)的局域结构。考察了各构型间的过渡转化情况,发现二重态构型的稳定性要好于四重态。分析各构型的能量、成键及电子转移情况,发现与P原子成键的Fe原子个数对这些性质影响较为明显。与P原子成键的Fe原子个数越多,体系的能量就越低,越容易存在；P原子的得电子能力随着与其成键Fe原子个数增多而减少,甚至会将失去自身电子转移到金属原子上。同时通过3d轨道布居数,讨论了原子簇的空穴数及磁学性质。     

Cluster model of aluminum dense vapor plasma

The chemical model of aluminum vapor plasma, that take into account the formation of neutral and charged clusters, is suggested. Caloric and thermal equations of state and composition of plasma were received using the available information about properties of metal clusters. It is shown, that aluminum vapors are clusterized with decrease of temperature and with increase of density. Pressure dependence on internal energy is calculated and comparison with experimental data is made. The important role of aluminum clusters, especially in an initial phase of the metals vapor heating, is demonstrated. It is shown, that the region of plasma clusterization in gaseous phase agree with known literature data for binodal of vapor-liquid transition from gaseous region. Suggested cluster model may be used to forecast the location of metal vapors binodal. The conductivity of aluminum vapor plasma was calculated. The satisfactory agreement with available experimental data is received.     

Alloy model for high-temperature superconductors

An alloy model is proposed for the electronic structure of high-temperature superconductors. It is based on the assumption that holes and extra electrons are localized in small copper-oxygen clusters, that would be the components of such an alloy. This model, when used together with quantum chemical calculations on small clusters, can explain the structure observed in the experimental densities of states of both hole and electron superconductors close to the Fermi energy. The main point is the strong dependence of the energy level distribution and composition on the number of electrons in a cluster. The alloy model also suggests a way to correlate T_c with the number of holes, or extra electrons, and the number of adequate clusters to locate them.     

Formation of the structure of gold nanoclusters during crystallization

The structure formation in gold nanoparticles 1.6–5.0 nm in diameter is studied by molecular dynamics simulation using a tight-binding potential. The simulation shows that the initial fcc phase in small Au clusters transforms into other structural modifications as temperature changes. As the cluster size increases, the transition temperature shifts toward the melting temperature of the cluster. The effect of various crystallization conditions on the formation of the internal structure of gold nanoclusters is studied in terms of microcanonical and canonical ensembles. The stability boundaries of various crystalline isomers are analyzed. The obtained dependences are compared with the corresponding data obtained for copper and nickel nanoparticles. The structure formation during crystallization is found to be characterized by a clear effect of the particle size on the stability of a certain isomer modification. Nickel and copper clusters are shown to exhibit common features in the formation of their structural properties, whereas gold clusters demonstrate much more complex behavior.     

The 13-atom encapsulated gold cage clusters

The structure and the magnetic moment of transition metal encapsulated in a Au 12 cage cluster have been studied by using the density functional theory.The results show that all of the transition metal atoms(TMA) can embed into the Au 12 cage and increase the stability of the clusters except Mn.Half of them have the I h or O h symmetry.The curves of binding energy have oscillation characteristics when the extra-nuclear electrons increase;the reason for this may be the interaction between parity changes of extra-nuclear electrons and Au atoms.The curves of highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(HOMO-LUMO) gap also have oscillation characteristics when the extra-nuclear electrons increase.The binding energies of many M@Au 12 clusters are much larger than that of the pure Au 13 cluster,while the gaps of some of them are less than that of Au 13,so maybe Cr@Au 12,Nb@Au 12,and W@Au 12 clusters are most stable in fact.For magnetic calculations,some clusters are quenched totally,but the Au 13 cluster has the largest magnetic moment of 5 μ B.When the number of extra-nuclear electrons of the encapsulated TMA is even,the magnetic moment of relevant M@Au 12 cluster is even,and so are the odd ones.     

铍团簇Be_n(n=2-55)的基态能量、结构及其拓扑性质

采用一种第一性原理多体势来描述团簇Ben中原子之间的相互作用,用模拟自然界生物进化的方法系统地优化计算了Ben团簇(n=2-55)的基态能量和几何结构,分析了其拓扑性质,总结了能量和结构随原子数目的变化规律,并将得到的Ben的结果和长程Morse势所描述的金属团簇Mn,以及LennardJones势所描述的惰性气体团簇LJn进行了比较     

Electron spectroscopy of objects for nanoelectronics

An electron-spectroscopic analysis is made of layered nanostructures and clusters at the surface and in the bulk of a solid. A new method of forming metal/insulator/semiconductor (superconductor) nanostructures is proposed based on ion-stimulated metal segregation effects at the surface of low-temperature gallium arsenide and a 123 high-temperature superconductor. The geometric parameters and electronic structure of these nano-objects are studied. It is shown that their electronic properties can be controllably varied in situ by acting on the surface. The dimensional transformation of the electronic properties of metal clusters is studied for clusters in the insulator SiO₂, in the superconductor LTMBE-GaAs, and on silicon and graphite surfaces. The nature of this transformation is clarified. A diagnostics for cluster ensembles is developed by which one can determine the parameters needed to describe singleelectron transport: the average number of atoms per cluster, the average distance between clusters and isolated atoms, and the chemical state of the atoms. Ensembles of silver clusters with specified parameters are obtained on a silicon surface. It is shown that these ensembles are potentially useful for developing single-electron devices. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 85–89 (September 1999)     

Size dependence of freezing temperature and structure instability in simulated Lennard-Jones clusters

Liquid Lennard-Jones clusters of 14 different sizes from N=55 to 923 particles were cooled down to find their temperature of liquid-solid transition and the internal structure of the solidified clusters. The decrease of the cluster temperature was attained by a gradual change of the system temperature in Monte Carlo simulations. The liquid-to-solid transition was found by analysis of the specific heat as well as by detection of the structural units of face-centred cubic, hexagonal close-packed and decahedral type. It was observed that near the detected transition temperature the solid-like cluster structure is not always stable and fluctuates between solid and liquid states. The fluctuations of the state were observed frequently for small clusters with N ≤147, where the temporary solid structure is created by a large part of internal atoms. Manual inspection of cluster structural data and the 10%N condition for minimal number of atoms as centres of solid-like units enable detection of stable cluster solidification at freezing temperature. It was found that the freezing temperature of all clusters, with the exception of N=55, decreases linearly with N^-1/3. The extrapolated freezing temperature of the bulk LJ system is 13% lower than the experimental value of argon. After freezing, the solid phase remains but some atoms close to the cluster surface are not firmly included into the structure and oscillate mainly between solid structure and disordered one.     

How metallic are small sodium clusters?

Cryogenic cluster beam experiments have provided crucial insights into the evolution of the metallic state from the atom to the bulk. Surprisingly, one of the most fundamental metallic properties, the ability of a metal to efficiently screen electric fields, is still poorly understood in small clusters. Theory has predicted that many small Na clusters are unable to screen charge inhomogeneities and thus have permanent dipole moments. High precision electric deflection experiments on cryogenically cooled Na(N) (N<200) clusters show that the electric dipole moments are at least an order of magnitude smaller than predicted, and are consistent with zero, as expected for a metal. The polarizabilities of Na clusters also show metal sphere behavior, with fine size oscillations caused by the shell structure.