6533b823fe1ef96bd127ec0b
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Liquid-liquid phase coexistence in gold clusters. 2D or not 2D?
Hannu HäkkinenBernd A. HuberMichael MoselerPekka KoskinenBernd Von Issendorffsubject
PhysicsQuantum phase transitionGold clusterliquid-liquid transitionGeneral Physics and AstronomyThermodynamicsExperimental validationMolecular physicsQuantum molecular dynamicsPhysics::Fluid DynamicsPlanarClusterPhase (matter)phase transitions in clusterLiquid liquidSupercoolingspectroscopy and geometrical structure of clustersdescription
The thermodynamics of gold cluster anions (${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, $N=11,\dots{},14$) is investigated using quantum molecular dynamics. Our simulations suggest that ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ may exhibit a novel, freestanding planar liquid phase which dynamically coexists with a normal three-dimensional liquid. Upon cooling with experimentally realizable cooling rates, the entropy-favored three-dimensional liquid clusters often supercool and solidify into the ``wrong'' dimensionality. This indicates that experimental validation of theoretically predicted ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ ground states might be more complicated than hitherto expected.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-09-25 |