A form of bulk silicon consisting of “magic” clusters

Abstract

Si 4 clusters are soft-landed on an inert Van-der-Waals surface and the island formation is studied using x-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The experimental data indicate that the clusters do not fuse to Si islands but survive as individuals. The potential-energy surface of two Si clusters is calculated and a barrier against fusion is found, in agreement with the experiments. Both finding support the existence of a form of silicon consisting of Si 4 clusters.

Fluorescent silicon clusters and nanoparticles

“…To soften the impact, rare gas buffer layers were co-deposited onto a cold, pre-deposited rare gas matrix (Honea et al, 1999). A similar scheme was used by Grass and co-workers, who soft-landed Si 4 on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and performed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (Grass et al, 2002). Astruc-Hoffmann and co-workers used a reflectron time-offlight (RETOF) mass spectrometer in combination with a multi-wire mass gate to size select silicon anion clusters on which to subsequently perform photoelectron spectroscopy.…”

Soft-landing of size-selected W clusters on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite surfaces: Towards the fabrication of thin films of cluster assemblies

“…Only tetramers are formed in the gas phase upon evaporation of bulk antimony [11]. There are indications that certain magic Si clusters may form cluster materials if soft-landed on inert surfaces [12]. Several more examples for the successful formation of cluster materials can be found for ligand-stabilized clusters prepared by wet-chemical methods [13].…”

The electronic spectrum of Si3 I: Triplet D3h system

“…Small silicon clusters play an important role in the photochemistry of silicon-and carbon-rich evolved stars 1 and in vapor deposition of silicon films, 2 and they are a first step in developing an understanding of larger clusters. To date, 11 silicon-containing molecules have been detected in the interstellar medium, primarily via their pure rotational transitions, with some so abundant that their rare isotopomers are easily observed.…”