Emergent electronic properties in Co-deposited superatomic clusters

Holger Fiedler; Julia Schacht; Lukas Hammerschmidt; Vladimir Golovko; Nicola Gaston; Jonathan E Halpert

doi:10.1063/5.0060302

Emergent electronic properties in Co-deposited superatomic clusters

J Chem Phys. 2021 Sep 28;155(12):124309. doi: 10.1063/5.0060302.

Authors

Holger Fiedler¹, Julia Schacht¹, Lukas Hammerschmidt¹, Vladimir Golovko¹, Nicola Gaston¹, Jonathan E Halpert¹

Affiliation

¹ The MacDiarmid Institute of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, A New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, Wellington New Zealand.

PMID: 34598587
DOI: 10.1063/5.0060302

Abstract

We report an intercluster compound based on co-deposition of the Au cluster [Au₉(PPh₃)₈](NO₃)₃ and the fulleride KC₆₀(THF). Electronic properties characteristic for a charge interaction between superatoms emerge within the solid state material [Au₉(PPh₃)₈](NO₃)_3-x(C₆₀)_x, as confirmed by UV-VIS and Raman spectroscopy and I-V measurements. These emergent properties are related to the superatomic electronic states of the initial clusters. The material is characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and electrical measurements. Structural optimization and ab initio band structure calculations are performed with density functional theory to interpret the nature of the electronic states in the material; Bader charge calculations assign effective oxidation states in support of the superatomic model of cluster interactions.