Electronic entropy, shell structure, and size-evolutionary patterns of metal clusters

Constantine Yannouleas; Uzi Landman

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.78.1424

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Electronic entropy, shell structure, and size-evolutionary patterns of metal clusters

Constantine Yannouleas·Uzi Landman

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Abstract

We show that electronic-entropy effects in the size-evolutionary patterns of relatively small (as small as 20 atoms), simple-metal clusters become prominent already at moderate temperatures. Detailed agreement between our finite-temperature-shell-correction-method calculations and experimental results is obtained for certain temperatures. This agreement includes a size-dependent smearing out of fine-structure features, accompanied by a measurable reduction of the heights of the steps marking major-shell and subshell closings, thus allowing for a quantitative analysis of cluster temperatures.

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Constantine Yannouleas, Uzi Landman. 1999-06-02. Electronic entropy, shell structure, and size-evolutionary patterns of metal clusters. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.78.1424

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