Charging, Relaxation, and Polarization of Free Metal Nanoclusters

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

The focus of this research project is on the electronic, thermal, and surface properties of alkali nanoclusters ranging in size from 10 to 10,000 atoms. The experiments will be carried out on free clusters in beams, generated in vapor expansion sources, and detected by mass spectrometers. In this way, nanoclusters can be studied as a function of precisely known size and without distortions caused by substrate effects. The project aims to understand: (1) the fate of slow electrons attracted and captured by the cluster polarization potential; (2) the temperature dependence of the electric dipole polarizability of clusters; and (3) the origin of highly efficient charge transfer in collisions of clusters with surfaces. All these phenomena are related to the dynamics of mobile cluster electrons. They touch upon the fundamental physics of finite many-body systems and surfaces, such as carrier scattering and electron-vibrational coupling in nanoscale systems, the interplay between structural and electronic properties, thermal expansion, and the melting transition.