LOCAL BONDING TRENDS IN TRANSITION-METAL COHESION

Binding energies calculated in the local density approximation for small transition metal clusters establish a trend with atomic number which accurately represents the trend in cohesive energies for their crystalline counterparts. This correlation in trends means that small clusters differ from each other, as far as binding energies are concerned, in the same way the corresponding crystalline solids differ. Local near-neighbor bonding determines the variations in cohesive properties that distinguish one metal from another.