Noble gas and metal clusters in carbon nanopores: from models to applications

Abstract

Low temperature high energy (50 keV) electron diffraction experiments are performed in the both transmission and reflection regimes to study noble gas as well as aluminium clusters formed in nanoporous confinement of `amorphous' carbon films. Results are compared with calculations made for multiply twined particles such as icosahedra (ico) and decahedra (dec) with five-fold symmetry as well as face-centred cubic and hexagonal close-packed clusters. The analysis was based on the comparison of precise experimental and calculated diffracted intensities with the help of the R (reliability) — factor minimization with respect to relative weights wN of model-clusters of different sizes N (numbers of atoms) considered as variables in this procedure. The highly reproducible discrete distribution functions of sizes and structures characterize the suggested method as a good application to a pore medium description. The temperature related effects in the deposition processes as well as the specific growth mechanisms were revealed and discussed.