Berlin 2005 – scientific programme

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MO: Molekülphysik

MO 14: Clusters of Atoms and Small Molecules

MO 14.1: Invited Talk

Friday, March 4, 2005, 16:30–17:00, HU 2091

The geometric and electronic structure of simple metal clusters — •Bernd v.Issendorff — Department of Physics, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany

Photoelectron spectroscopy on free, cold, size-selected clusters is an ideal tool to study the electronic structure of these particles. Clusters of simple metals like alkali or noble metals exhibit a strongly discretized electron density of states, the so-called electron shell structure, which can be seen as the eigenstates of free electrons in a spherical well. Closer examination reveals that the shells are subject to relatively strong crystal field splitting effects; this allows one to extract information about the particle geometrical structure from the spectra. Icosahedral symmetry prevails in the size range of 50-500 atoms, but decahedral structures are observed as well.