Contact: David Terraso
david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu
404-385-2966
Georgia Institute of Technology

Planar Gold Cluster

Caption: Three-dimensional (a) and planar 20-atom gold clusters (b), showing top and side views, with the gold atoms depicted as yellow spheres, adsorbed on an MgO 8-layer film (Mg atoms in green and O atoms in red), which itself is supported by an underlying silver substrate (not shown). The calculations were performed under the influence of an electric field of 1 volt per nanometer. The excess electronic charge distribution is superimposed on the atomic structure as a blue cloud. The planar structure (b) is the favorable one under these conditions, while without the electric field the 3-D cluster (a) is the more stable one.

Credit: Uzi Landman/Georgia Tech

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