Nanophase Materials Assembled from Atomic Clusters

Abstract

The synthesis of nanometer-sized atomic clusters of metals and ceramics by means of the gas-condensation method, followed by their in situ consolidation under high-vacuum conditions, has resulted in a new class of ultrafine-grained interface materials. These nanophase materials, with average grain sizes presently ranging from about 5 to 25 nm, exhibit properties that are often rather different and improved relative to those of conventional materials. In addition, their processing characteristics appear in some cases to be greatly improved over their conventional coarser grained counterparts. The synthesis of nanophase materials by means of cluster assembly under controlled conditions should enable the design of materials, heretofore unavailable, with improved or unique properties. As such, it is likely that the combination of new capabilities to synthesize, characterize, anc) engineer the properties of materials based on the assembly of atomic clusters will significantly impact materials science and engineering in the coming years.The assembly of matter by the consolidation of gas-condensed atomic clusters is probably as old as the universe itself, since this is thought to be the way condensed matter formed during the cooling period that followed the “big bang,” as evidenced by the structure of the earliest meteorites. The modern synthesis of ultrafine-grained materials by the in situ consolidation of nanometer-sized gas-condensed ultrafine particles or atomic clusters, however, was first suggested by Gleiter.