https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00298-x
Non-jellium scaling of metal cluster ionization energies and electron affinities
1
Department of Physics, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Straße 19,
79104 Freiburg, Germany
2
Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
Corresponding author: klavs@physics.gu.se
Received:
6
February
2009
Revised:
7
June
2009
Published online:
24
November
2009
Experimental literature data on ionization energies and electron affinities of metal clusters are reviewed and analyzed in terms of an expansion in the inverse cluster radius. The coefficient of the finite size correction for ionization energies decreases with increasing bulk work function whereas the corresponding coefficient for electron affinities increases. This sharply contrasts the predictions based both on density functional theory of spherical jellium clusters and on classical electrostatics. A scaling of the coefficient for the ionization potentials with the atomic radius yields a linear behavior which extrapolates to zero around 6 eV.
PACS: 36.40.-c – Atomic and molecular clusters / 33.15.Ry – Ionization potentials, electron affinities, molecular core binding energy / 33.80.Eh – Autoionization, photoionization, and photodetachment
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2009
