Release Time:2019-03-13  Hits:

Indexed by: Journal Article

Date of Publication: 2016-08-01

Journal: JOURNAL OF NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY

Included Journals: Scopus、EI、SCIE

Volume: 16

Issue: 8

Page Number: 8067-8074

ISSN: 1533-4880

Key Words: Aluminum Cluster; Genetic Algorithm; Structure; Photoelectron Spectrum

Abstract: Genetic algorithm combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations is used to explore the size evolution of structural and electronic properties of anionic aluminum cluster (Al-n(-) with n = 2-35) in terms of their ground-state structures, binding energies, second order differences of total energies, HOMO-LUMO gaps, and photoelectron spectra. The lowest-energy structures of smallest Al-5(-) clusters (n <= 5) are planar, while three dimensional configurations dominate for n >= 6. The icosahedron of Al-13(-) and double icosahedrons of Al-19(-) are found as the core for the growth motif of aluminum clusters. For n = 20-24, a competition between double icosahedrons and fragments of fcc crystal is found. As the cluster size exceeds 25, the lowest-energy structures tend to adopt layered structure with fcc-like packing. We also simulated photoelectron spectra and vertical detach energies of Al-n(-) and reproduced the experimental data rather well, confirming the reliability of our theoretical results.