Critical sizes in the growth of Au clusters
M.M Alvarez, J.T. Khoury, T.G. Schaaff, M. Shafigullin, I. Vezmar, R.L. Whetten

Abstract:

A systematic exploration of the growth of Au clusters has revealed a critical size for the formation of stable assemblies. Mass-spectrometric measurements of clusters, as grown in the presence of an excess of weakly binding long-chain n-alkylthiol(ate) groups, show high yields of new compounds with core masses near the 15k minimum (~75 Au atoms; k = 10³ amu), and also at 23k, and 29k. Structural analyses establish their cores as compact metal nanocrystals of the corresponding effective diameters (1.4 to 1.7 nm), probably of decahedra1 close-packing and morphology. The precise identities of this sequence of special structures can now be sought.

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