Dynamics of clusters: From elementary to biological structures
- Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Arthur Amos Noyes Laboratory of Chemical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
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Edited by A. Welford Castleman, Jr., Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, and approved January 6, 2006 (received for review August 16, 2005)
Abstract
Between isolated atoms or molecules and bulk materials there lies a class of unique structures, known as clusters, that consist of a few to hundreds of atoms or molecules. Within this range of “nanophase,” many physical and chemical properties of the materials evolve as a function of cluster size, and materials may exhibit novel properties due to quantum confinement effects. Understanding these phenomena is in its own rights fundamental, but clusters have the additional advantage of being controllable model systems for unraveling the complexity of condensed-phase and biological structures, not to mention their vanguard role in defining nanoscience and nanotechnology. Over the last two decades, much progress has been made, and this short overview highlights our own involvement in developing cluster dynamics, from the first experiments on elementary systems to model systems in the condensed phase, and on to biological structures.
Footnotes
- §To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zewail{at}caltech.edu
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↵ †Permanent address: Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan.
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Author contributions: P.-Y.C., J.S.B., and A.H.Z. wrote the paper.
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Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
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This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
- © 2006 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
