“…13 However, it has been found that silicon clusters can be stabilized by doping with transition metal (TM) atoms, [14][15][16] and by now a great number of studies, both experimentally [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] and theoretically, [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] have explored the structures and electronic properties of TM-doped silicon clusters for their potential use in silicon-based nanomaterials. In fact, doping silicon clusters with appropriate transition metal atoms [37][38][39][40][41] can reduce the number of dangling bonds on the cluster surface or even fully saturate them via pd hybridization, and thereby change the geometrical structures and chemical reactivities compared to pure silicon clusters. Accordingly, novel physical and chemical properties of transition-metal doped silicon clusters, e.g., size-specific stability, 30,42 magnetic, 17,28,37,39,43 and optical properties, 44 open up many new and exciting applications, for instance, for silicon-based nano-devices in optoelectronics, tunable lasers, and sensors.…”