Global minimum structures and structural phase diagrams of modified Morse clusters: 11 ≤ N ≤ 30

Abstract

The energetically favored structures of clusters are determined by the interactions among particles. Using the modified Morse pair potential, which has two parameters that can freely control the interactions at the minimum, short range, and long range, we systematically investigated how the interactions determines the global minimum structures of clusters and gave the structural phase diagram at 0 K for each cluster size at the range 11 ≤ N ≤ 30. Compared to the Morse potential, a number of new structures are found, and some of them are unexpected. The global minimum structures of modified Morse clusters can act as structural bank, which will be helpful in the optimization of certain real clusters.