Free nanoscale sodium clusters studied by core-level photoelectron spectroscopy

In English Free sodium metal clusters have been studied by probing the Na 2p core level using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The development of electronic structure with size has been studied and discussed in comparison with the atom, dimer, and solid. Information on cluster metallic properties, size, and temperature has been deduced from the XPS measurements. For the large < N >> 10(3) Na clusters, the surface and bulk sites have been separated in the photoelectron signal. Auger spectra allowed extracting the information on the valence band. The present study introduces core-level spectroscopies XPS and AES into the field of free neutral metal cluster research.