Search results for "phase transitions in cluster"

Liquid-liquid phase coexistence in gold clusters. 2D or not 2D?

2006

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.