Cluster melting in effective potential model

Abstract

The paper shows that the melting temperature of clusters and nanoparticles is determined by the depth of potential well of pair interaction potential, the number of particles in a cluster, and the particle packing pattern. A cluster is in solid (crystalline or quasicrystalline) state, if the potential energy of interaction between cluster particles corresponds to global minimum, in this case the geometric configuration of particle spatial arrangement is considered to be the structure of a solid cluster. A formula is proposed to calculate cluster melting temperature depending on the number of particles in a cluster.