Patterns and barriers for fission of charged small metal clusters

Journal Article · Mon Nov 25 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Physical Review Letters; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.67.3058· OSTI ID:6186315

Barnett, R N; Landman, U; Rajagopal, G ^[1]

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1. School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia (USA)

Asymmetric fission of small doubly-charged sodium clusters, investigated via a local-spin-density molecular-dynamics method, is shown to occur predominantly via Na{sub {ital n}}{sup +2}{r arrow}Na{sub {ital n}{minus}3}{sup +}+Na{sub 3}{sup +}, for 4{le}{ital n}{le}12. For the smallest cluster ({ital n}{le}6), fission is barrierless, while fission of larger ones involves barriers. For {ital n}=8, 10, and 12 the barriers are 0.16, 0.71, and 0.29 eV, respectively, reflecting the closed-shell stability of the parent with {ital n}=10. The fission barriers for {ital n}{gt}8 exhibit a double-hump shape, and the dynamics of fission involves a precursor mechanism.

• DOE Contract Number: FG05-86ER45234
• OSTI ID: 6186315
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters; (United States), Journal Name: Physical Review Letters; (United States) Vol. 67:22; ISSN PRLTA; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

665000* -- Physics of Condensed Matter-- (1992-)
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALKALI METALS
ASYMMETRY
CHARGE STATE
DATA
DYNAMICS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY
ENERGY LEVELS
FRAGMENTATION
GROUND STATES
INFORMATION
MECHANICS
METALS
MOLECULES
NUMERICAL DATA
PATTERN RECOGNITION
POTENTIAL ENERGY
PRECURSOR
SODIUM
SOLID CLUSTERS
THEORETICAL DATA