材料期刊网

The geometrical structures, relative stabilities, electronic and magnetic properties of calcium-doped gold clusters Au(n)Ca (n = 1-8) have been systematically investigated by employing density functional method at the BP86 level. The optimised geometries show that the ground-state structures are planar structures for Au(n)Ca (n = 3-8) clusters. Ca-substituted Au(n+1) clusters, as well as Au-capped Au(n-1)Ca clusters, are dominant growth patterns for the AunCa clusters. The relative stabilities of Au(n)Ca clusters for the ground-state structures are analysed based on the averaged binding energies, fragmentation energies and second-order difference of energies. The calculated results reveal that the Au(2)Ca isomer is the most stable structure for small size Au(n)Ca (n = 1-8) clusters. The HOMO-LUMO energy gaps as a function of the cluster size exhibit a pronounced even-odd alternation phenomenon. Subsequently, charge transfers and magnetic moment of Au(n)Ca (n = 1-8) clusters have been analysed further.