The plethora of proven and potential applications ofnanocrystalline materials makes it imperative to achieve asound conceptual understanding of the size dependence ofa variety of physicochemical properties. While the influencesof quantum size effects [1,2] and surface effects on variousphysical properties of nanoparticles are relatively well under-stood, the often crucial effect of size-dependent changes inthe lattice symmetry and lattice parameters [3] have not beeninvestigated in detail. Size-dependent structural modificationshavebeenknowntoplayakeyrole,forexample,incontrollingtheferroelectricpropertiesofperovskitematerials[4].Thoughthe magnetic properties of nanoparticles have been studied indetail [5], finite size effects in the formation and stability oflocal magnetic moments, especially for isolated impurities,have received very little attention. Interestingly, the formationoflocalmomentsonisolateddopantatomsina
Read full abstract