# The Synthesis and Electrical Transport of Ligand-Protected Au13 Clusters

## TL;DR

This paper reports the synthesis of ligand-protected Au13 clusters, their characterization, and electrical transport measurements revealing Coulomb blockade and energy level features, supported by first-principles calculations.

## Contribution

It introduces a new synthesis method for Au13 clusters with ligand protection and provides experimental and theoretical insights into their electrical transport properties.

## Key findings

- Size distribution of 0.6 nm observed
- Coulomb blockade detected at 1.6 K
- Energy gaps of about 60 meV identified

## Abstract

The ligand-protected Au13 clusters have been synthesized by using meso-2,3-imercaptosuccinic acid as the reducing and stabilizing agent. Transmission electron microscopic analysis shows a size distribution of 0.6nm. Optical spectrum shows an absorbance peak at 390 nm. The electrical transport measurement devices are fabricated using the electro-migration method. Coulomb blockade is observed at the temperature of 1.6 K,revealing the formation of the tunneling junction. The Coulomb oscillation on-off ratio is nearly 5. Three peaks are extracted in the dI-dV data and attributed to the energy levels of Au13 clusters, gapped by about 60 meV. First principle calculations are carried out to interpret the energy diagram.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1701.06151