Aluminum clusters: Magnetic properties

D. M. Cox, D. J. Trevor, R. L. Whetten, E. A. Rohlfing, A. Kaldor

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

174 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the first measurement of the magnetic moments of gas phase aluminum clusters ranging in size from 2 to 25 atoms. Aluminum clusters are produced by pulsed laser vaporization of an aluminum rod inside the throat of a high pressure pulsed nozzle. The highly collimated cluster beam is passed through a Stern-Gerlach magnet and the deflected beam is analyzed by spatially resolved photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Aluminum clusters less than nine atoms in size are found to have magnetic moments generally consistent with those predicted from spin and orbital moments of the ground electronic states. As expected, a general trend toward reduced magnetic moment per atom with increasing cluster size is observed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4651-4656
Number of pages6
JournalThe Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume84
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 1986
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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