Controlled Formation of Mass-Selected Cu–Au Core–Shell Cluster Beams

Abstract

Synthesis of bimetallic clusters is a topic of accelerated interest; their physical and chemical properties are greatly dependent on their composition, size, and structure. The cluster beam technique is widely used for preparation of clusters. However, creating bimetallic clusters with well-controlled composition, size, and structure, especially for larger clusters (>100 atoms), is still a big challenge. Here we demonstrate that not only size and composition but also the structure of bimetallic clusters can be controlled by tuning aggregation parameters.