Quenching of the magnetic moment of a transition metal dopant in silver clusters.
Single magnetic atoms embedded in a nonmagnetic host exhibit the Kondo effect in the bulk limit, while in very small molecules the magnetic atom is hardly affected by the matrix. In a combined theoretical (density functional theory) and experimental (photofragmentation and mass spectrometry) study we consider the intermediate case of nanometer sized transition-metal-doped silver clusters. In particular, we provide experimental evidence for enhanced stability of the cobalt-doped silver cluster Ag10Co+ and show theoretically that it has a symmetric endohedral geometry with a closed 18-electron singlet electronic shell structure. This implies that the magnetic moment on the cobalt atom is quenched.
Janssens
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Laboratorium voor Vaste-Stoffysica en Magnetisme, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
Neukermans
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Nguyen
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Nguyen
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Lievens
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