Study of the Magnetic Structure of Free Clusters

先前的研究表明，由于热涨落、大表面积体积比和有限尺寸效应，2-500个原子的原子团簇可以比块体物质更具磁性，并显示出全新的磁性现象。该项目将把对钴和格拉团簇的测量扩大到其他金属、合金和金属化合物团簇的范围。这些研究将作为温度、磁场、团簇大小和组成的函数进行。其最终目标是合成其磁性将在磁记录、电子学和光学等应用中有用的团簇。

Previous studies have shown that atomic clusters of between 2 and 500 atoms can be more magnetic than the bulk matter and exhibit entirely new magnetic phenomena as the result of thermal fluctuactions, a large surface-to-volume ratio and finite-size effects. This project will extend the measurements made on cobalt and gadolinium clusters to a broad range of other metal, alloy and metal compound clusters. The studies will be made as functions of temperature, magnetic field, and cluster size and composition. The ultimate goal is to synthesize clusters whose magnetic properties will be useful in applications such as magnetic recording, electronics and optics.