Thermodynamics and the structure of clusters in the dense Au vapor from molecular dynamics simulation

Clusters of atoms in dense gold vapor are studied via atomistic simulation with the classical molecular dynamics method. For this purpose, we develop a new embedded atom model potential applicable to the lightest gold clusters and to the bulk gold. Simulation provides the equilibrium vapor phases at several subcritical temperatures, in which the clusters comprising up to 26 atoms are detected and analyzed. The cluster size distributions are found to match both the two-parameter model and the classical nucleation theory with the Tolman correction. For the gold liquid-vapor interface, the ratio of the Tolman length to the radius of a molecular cell in the liquid amounts to ∼0.16, almost exactly the value at which both models are identical. It is demonstrated that the lightest clusters have the chain-like structure, which is close to the freely jointed chain. Thus, the smallest clusters can be treated as the quasi-fractals with the fractal dimensionality close to two. Our analysis indicates that the cluster structural transition from the solid-like to chain-like geometry occurs in a wide temperature range around 2500 K.