The static electric dipole polarizabilities of Cu(9)-Cu(61) have been measured via a molecular beam deflection method. The clusters display per-atom polarizabilities that decrease monotonically with size, from approximately 16 A(3) per atom Cu(9-10) to approximately 5 A(3) (Cu(45-61)). Absent are any discernible discontinuities or odd-even alternations due to electronic shell filling or electron pairing effects. For the smallest clusters, the experimental polarizabilities are approximately 3 times larger than those predicted classically for conducting ellipsoids, and approach the classical values only for clusters containing more than approximately 45 atoms.
(c) 2004 American Institute of Physics.