Mass spectrometric and first principles study of Al${}_n$C${}^{-}$ clusters

Abstract

We study the carbon-dope aluminum clusters by using time-of-flight mass spectrum experiments and {\em ab initio} calculations. Mass abundance distributions are obtained for anionic aluminum and aluminum-carbon mixed clusters. Besides the well-known magic aluminum clusters such as Al${}_{13}^{-}$ and Al${}_{23}^{-}$, Al${}_7$C${}^{-}$ cluster is found to be particularly stable among those Al${}_n$C${}^{-}$ clusters. Density functional calculations are performed to determine the ground state structures of Al${}_n$C${}^{-}$ clusters. Our results show that the Al${}_7$C${}^{-}$ is a magic cluster with extremely high stability, which might serve as building block of the cluster-assembled materials.

4 pages, 6 figures