title: Discrete periodic melting point observations for nanostructure ensembles
abstract: We report a study of the thermodynamic properties of indium clusters on a SiN (x) surface during the early stages of thin film growth using a sensitive nanocalorimetry technique. The measurements reveal the presence of abnormal discontinuities in the heat of melting below 100 degrees C. These discontinuities, for which temperature separation corresponds to a spatial periodicity equal to the thickness of an indium monolayer, are found to be related to the atomic "magic numbers," i.e., the number of atoms necessary to form a complete shell of atoms at particle surface.
authors.affiliation: Material Science and Engineering Department and Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Efremov
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schiettekatte
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Kwan
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Allen