Photoelectron spectroscopy of single-size Au clusters collected on a substrate

Abstract

We have successfully collected size-selected Au clusters from a liquid-metal ion source onto amorphous carbon substrates. The systematics of the photoemission spectra show that there was no significant fragmentation or coalescence of clusters with seven or more atoms. We estimate the transition from metallic to local screening of the photoemission core hole to occur at a cluster size of approximately 150 atoms.