Eur. Phys. J. B 77, 123-132 (2010)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2010-00244-9

Spheroidal cap configurations of atomic clusters on planar surfaces

¹ Horia Hulubei - National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering, P.O. Box MG-6, 76900, Bucharest, Romania
² Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, J.W. Goethe Universitaet, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Corresponding author: ^a radu@fias.uni-frankfurt.de

Received: 18 May 2010
Published online: 11 August 2010

Abstract

Deposited atomic cluster configurations are investigated under the hypothesis of spheroidal cap shapes being a stable geometry. The macroscopic-microscopic method is employed to calculate the deformation energy. A new specialized single-particle model is developed in order to account for the quantum effects, and the liquid-drop approach is used to calculate the macroscopic part of the energy. The minima within the total deformation energy are interpreted as equilibrium states of atomic clusters on surfaces. Calculations have been performed for the metallic clusters of Na with atom numbers N = 20, 70 and 200.