Editor's Summary

3 January 2008

Nanocluster structures

It is difficult to determine the three-dimensional structure of ultrasmall nanoparticles as they are unstable and tend to interact with any incident electron beams used to examine them. Now, using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled with imaging simulation, the size, shape, orientation and atomic arrangement of specially prepared size-selected gold nanoclusters have been determined to single-atom resolution. The particles were preformed in the gas phase and soft-landed on an amorphous carbon substrate. These materials are of interest for catalytic and biological applications.

Letter: Three-dimensional atomic-scale structure of size-selected gold nanoclusters

Z. Y. Li, N. P. Young, M. Di Vece, S. Palomba, R. E. Palmer, A. L. Bleloch, B. C. Curley, R. L. Johnston, J. Jiang & J. Yuan

doi:10.1038/nature06470

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