Abstract
Metal clusters have drawn continuous interest because of their high potential for the assembly of matter with special properties that may significantly differ from the corresponding bulk. Controlled combination of particular elements in one nanoparticle can increase the options for the creation of new materials for photonic, catalytic, or electronic applications. Superfluid helium droplets provide confinement and ultralow temperature, i.e. an ideal environment for the atom-by-atom aggregation of a new nanoparticle. This perspective presents a review of the current research progress on the synthesis of tailored metal and metal oxide clusters including core-shell designs, their characterization within the helium droplet beam, deposition on various solid substrates, and analysis via surface diagnostics. Special attention is given to the thermal properties of mixed metal clusters and questions about alloy formation on the nanoscale. Experimental results are accompanied by theoretical approaches employing computational chemistry, molecular dynamics simulations and He density functional theory.
Highlights
Initial interest in nanoclusters or nanoparticles originated in a purely curiosity driven exploration of an intermediate state of Wolfgang E
We have shown that helium droplets provide an excellent cryogenic environment for building clusters in a controlled composition atom by atom without any additional chemicals or additives
By varying the helium droplet source conditions and the vapour pressure of the dopants, size, shape, and elemental mixture can be influenced within certain distributions
Summary
Initial interest in nanoclusters or nanoparticles originated in a purely curiosity driven exploration of an intermediate state of Wolfgang E. He finished his PhD in physics at TU. Germany in 1977, pursued postdoctoral research at. 1978–79, and obtained his habilitation at Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany in 1983. From 1990 to 2002 he held the position of a full professor at Penn State University, Wolfgang E. USA, after which he moved to Graz University of Technology, Austria, where he served as Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute of Experimental Physics until 2019.
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