Dynamic spin Jahn-Teller effect in small magnetic clusters

We study the effect of spin-phonon coupling in small magnetic clusters, concentrating on a S=1/2 ring of 4 spins coupled antiferromagnetically. If the phonons are treated as classical variables, there is a critical value of the spin-phonon coupling above which a static distortion occurs. This is a good approximation if the zero point energy is small compared to the energy gain due to the distortion, which is true for large exchange interactions compared to the phonon energy (J≫ħω). In the opposite limit, one can integrate out the phonon degrees of freedom and get an effective spin Hamiltonian. Using exact diagonalizations to include the quantum nature of both spins and phonons, we obtain the spectrum in the whole range of parameters and explicit the crossover between the classical and quantum regimes. We then establish quantitatively the limits of validity of two widely used approaches (one in the quantum and one in the classical limits) and show that they are quite poor for small magnetic clusters. We also show that upon reducing ħω/J the first excitation of a 4-site cluster becomes a singlet, a result that could be relevant for Cu₂Te₂O₅Br₂.     

Solid-liquid phase transition in small water clusters: a molecular dynamics simulation study

Water clusters, (H₂O) _n , of varying sizes (n = 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 40) have been studied at different temperatures from 0 to 200 K using molecular dynamics simulations. Transitions between solid and liquid phases were investigated to estimate the melting temperature of the clusters. Although the melting temperatures showed non-monotonic behaviour as a function of cluster size, their general tendency follows the classical relationship T _m ∝ n ^?1/3 to the cluster size n. Moreover, it was observed that the liquid-solid surface tension decreased with the cluster size in a similar way to the liquid-vapour surface tension in bulk water. Upon cooling, ice-like crystals were formed from the smaller clusters with n up to 20, while the larger clusters were transformed to glassy structures. The decrease in the glass transition temperature with the cluster size was observed to be much less than the corresponding melting temperature. The mutual order of the melting and glass-transition temperatures were found to be reversed compared with that observed for bulk water.     

Conserving quasiparticle calculations for small metal clusters

A novel approach for GW-based calculations of quasiparticle properties for finite systems is presented, in which the screened interaction is obtained directly from a linear response calculation of the density-density correlation function. The conserving nature of our results is shown by explicit evaluation of the f-sum rule. As an application, energy renormalizations and level broadenings are calculated for the closed-shell Na₉ ⁺ and Na₂₁ ⁺ clusters, as well as for Na₄. Pronounced improvements of conserving approximations to RPA-level results are obtained.     

Jahn-teller effect for eight-atom clusters

Stationary points of adiabatic potential surface of Si₈ clusters calculated by SINDO1 method are studied in terms of the Jahn-Teller effect.O _h andD _d symmetries are explained as a consequence of non-Jahn-Teller forces.D _2d,C _2v andC _s symmetries are the end points of descent routes according to the theory of step-by-step descent in symmetry. The results of epikernel principle are incorrect.     

A pseudo-hamiltonian model for small alkali metal clusters

The dissociation energies and equilibrium geometries of the molecules Na₃, Na₃ ⁺, K₃ and K₃ ⁺ are calculated using a simple model hamiltonian. The model was previously developed by Roach and Baybutt to explain an anomalous feature in the bonding of alkali metal diatomics. For polyatomics it is convenient to introduce a small gaussian expansion of Slater orbitals, and this also allows the use of an improved method of evaluating integrals over the core volumes. Although Na₃ and K₃ are only predicted to be metastable (like H₃), their calculated ionization potentials are in quite good agreement with experiment. The failure of the model for the other alkali metals is discussed.     

Isotope effect and cluster size dependence for water and hydrated hydrogen halide clusters: multi-component molecular orbital approach

In order to explore the proton/deuteron (H/D) isotope effect on the structures, wavefunctions, and size dependence of water clusters, both electronic and nuclear wavefunctions are determined simultaneously. The optimized centres and the exponents for the nuclear orbitals indicate the Ubbelohde effect, i.e. the deuteron has weaker hydrogen bonding than the proton. Calculations are made also of hydrogen halide water clusters, Such as HF(H₂O)_n, HB_r(H₂O)_n, (n = 0–4), and their deuterated species. Only the hydrogen transferred ring structure is optimized for the protonic HBr (H₂O)₃ cluster, while both the hydrogen transferred and the non-transferred structures are obtained for the deuterated DBr (H₂O)₃ cluster under the one-particle multi-component treatment. The proton in the HF molecule is localized more than those in the HCl and HBr molecules, and no hydrogen transferred structures are obtained for HF water clusters.     

Aharonov-Bohm effect for composite particles and collective excitations

The energies of neutral and charged excitons in quantum rings and the plasmon frequencies in nanotubes are analyzed as functions of a magnetic field.     

A parametrical investigation for the structure of small clusters

A parametrical analysis was performed to investigate the effect of the substrate on the structure of deposits. Calculations are based on a static approach which employs a semi-empirical potential function comprising two-body and three-body terms. Results indicate that three-body interactions, in particular, play a significant role in determining the energetically most favorable structure of deposits.     

The effect of electron statistics on the ionization potential of small metal clusters

The ionization potential of a small metal cluster, as a function of N, the number of atoms in the cluster, shows an even-odd or sawtooth variation. We show that this effect, due to electron statistics, can be described using simple bulk-metal models. We analyze it both with the electron gas model and the electron spin-density functional model in the spherical jellium approximation. Both models predict that the even-odd part of the ionization potential varies as 1/N.     

Copper clusters: electronic effect dominates over geometric effect

A minimal parameter tight binding molecular dynamics scheme is used to study Cu _n clusters with . We present results for relaxed configurations of different symmetries, binding energies, relative stabilities and HOMO-LUMO gap energies for these clusters. Detailed comparison for small clusters n = 3-9 with ab initio and available experimental results shows very good agreement. Even-odd alternation due to electron pairing and magic behaviour for Cu₂, Cu₈, Cu₁₈ and Cu₂₀ due to electronic shell closing are found. We found electronic effects, electronic shell closing and electron pairing in the HOMO dominates over the geometrical effect to determine the relative stability of copper clusters. The present results indicate that tight-binding molecular dynamics scheme can be relied on to provide a useful semiempirical scheme in modeling interactions in metallic systems.Received: 3 May 2004, Published online: 26 October 2004PACS: 36.40.Cg Electronic and magnetic properties of clusters - 36.40.Mr Spectroscopy and geometrical structure of clusters - 36.40.Qv Stability and fragmentation of clusters     

Fragmentation of water clusters: Molecular-dynamics simulation study

The fragmentation of water clusters, [(H ₂ O)_n;n = 2-8], have been investigated by using molecular-dynamics simulation method. In the simulations a polarizable-dissociable potential energy function for water has been used. Particular attention has bee paid to investigate the effect of structural properties and cluster size on the fragmentation. Received 27 April 2000 and Received in final form 6 October 2000     

Hot and solid gallium clusters: too small to melt

A novel multicollision induced dissociation scheme is employed to determine the energy content for mass-selected gallium cluster ions as a function of their temperature. Measurements were performed for Ga(+)(n) (n=17 39, and 40) over a 90-720 K temperature range. For Ga+39 and Ga+40 a broad maximum in the heat capacity-a signature of a melting transition for a small cluster-occurs at around 550 K. Thus small gallium clusters melt at substantially above the 302.9 K melting point of bulk gallium, in conflict with expectations that they will remain liquid to below 150 K. No melting transition is observed for Ga+17.     

The off-axis pyroelectric effect observed for lithium tetraborate

We find a pyroelectric current along the 〈110〉 direction of stoichiometric Li₂B₄O₇ so that the pyroelectric coefficient is nonzero but roughly 10⁻³ smaller than along the 〈001〉 direction of spontaneous polarization. Abrupt decreases in the pyroelectric coefficient along the 〈110〉 direction can be correlated with anomalies in the elastic stiffness contributing to concept that the pyroelectric coefficient is not simply a vector but has qualities of a tensor, as expected. The time dependent surface photovoltaic charging suggests that an inverse piezoelectric effect occurs at the (110) surface but not the (100) surface. Both effects along the 〈110〉 direction or at the (110) surface are distinct the conventional as a bulk pyroelectric effect.