Amorphous structures of Cu, Ag, and Au nanoclusters from first principles calculations

We have carried out first-principles density functional calculations for clusters of the coinage metals containing thirteen atoms (M-13, where M=Cu, Ag, or Au). We find that for this geometric "magic number" the low energy isomers are actually disordered, forming almost a continuous distribution as a function of energy. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.