https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2017-80040-y
Regular Article
The synthesis and electrical transport of ligand-protected Au13 clusters
1 National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, and College of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P.R. China
2 Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics and Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P.R. China
a
e-mail: songfengqi@nju.edu.cn
Received: 21 January 2017
Received in final form: 28 April 2017
Published online: 12 September 2017
The ligand-protected Au13 clusters have been synthesized by using meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid as the reducing and stabilizing agent. Transmission electron microscopic analysis shows a size distribution of 1.4 ± 0.6 nm. Optical spectrum shows an absorbance peak at 390 nm. The electrical transport measurement devices are fabricated using the electro-migration method. Coulomb blockade is observed at the temperature of 1.6 K, revealing the formation of the tunneling junction. The Coulomb oscillation’s on/off ratio is nearly 5. Three peaks are extracted in the dI/dV data and attributed to the energy levels of Au13 clusters, gapped by about 60 meV. First principle calculations are carried out to interpret the energy diagram.
Key words: Clusters and Nanostructures
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2017
