Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Columnar-to-disk structural transition in nanoscale (SiO2)N clusters.

Stefan T Bromley1, Edwin Flikkema

  • 1Departament de Química Física & Centre Especial de Recerca en Química Teòrica, Universitat de Barcelona & Parc Científic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Physical Review Letters
|December 31, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Researchers identified ground states for silicon dioxide (SiO2) clusters (N=14-27). A structural transition from columnar to disk shapes was observed at N=23, linking silicon and SiO2 nanostructure behavior.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Thermally Activated Fluxionality Accelerates Nonradiative Decay in Titania Nanoclusters.

The journal of physical chemistry letters·2026
Same author

Electric-Field-Induced Tautomerism in Metal-Free Benziporphyrins Enables Aromaticity-Controlled Conductance Switching.

Nano letters·2026
Same author

Quantum engineering of mixed-valence 1D conjugated polymers.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same author

Revealing Recombination and Ultrafast Relaxation Mechanisms in Atomically Precise Titania Nanoclusters.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2025
Same author

Rational Design of Electric Field-Responsive Building Blocks for All-Organic 2D Magnetoelectric Materials.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2025
Same author

Oxygen-rich anionic metal silicate clusters as nucleation seeds for noctilucent clouds.

NPJ climate and atmospheric science·2025

Area of Science:

  • Computational Materials Science
  • Nanotechnology
  • Quantum Chemistry

Background:

  • Understanding the ground states of silicon dioxide (SiO2) clusters is crucial for predicting their properties and potential applications.
  • Previous studies have explored the structural and electronic properties of silicon nitride (SiN) clusters, revealing unique stability patterns and transitions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the ground-state structures of silicon dioxide (SiO2) clusters for N = 14-27 using advanced computational methods.
  • To investigate the structural transitions and stability trends within these SiO2 clusters.
  • To establish a link between the nanostructural behavior of silicon (Si) and silicon dioxide (SiO2).

Main Methods:

  • Extensive large-scale global optimizations were performed to identify potential ground states.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Ab initio calculations were employed to refine these structures and determine their energetic and electronic properties.
  • Analysis focused on cluster stability, particularly odd-even effects, and structural transitions.

    • Main Results:

    • Ground states for (SiO2)N clusters with N ranging from 14 to 27 were successfully proposed.
    • For N < 23, clusters exhibit a columnar structure with notable N-odd-N-even stability, both energetically and electronically.
    • A significant structural transition from a columnar to a disk-like shape occurs at N = 23, analogous to observations in SiN clusters.

    Conclusions:

    • The study reveals a fundamental link between the nanostructural behavior of elemental silicon (Si) and its oxide (SiO2), driven by similar underlying principles.
    • The observed columnar-to-disk transition in SiO2 clusters at N=23 is a key finding with implications for understanding material properties.
    • The nanoscale manipulation of these SiO2 structures holds potential for future technological applications in devices.