by Julio A Alonso (Universidad de Valladolid, Spain)

Atomic clusters are the bridge between molecules and the bulk matter. Following two key experiments — the observation of electronic shells in metallic clusters and the discovery of the C60 fullerence — the field of atomic clusters has experienced a rapid growth, and is now considered a mature field. The electrons of the cluster are confined to a small volume, hence, quantum effects are manifested on many properties of the clusters. Another interesting feature is that the properties often change in a non-smooth way as the number of atoms in the cluster increases. This book provides an updated overview of the field, and presents a detailed description of the structure and electronic properties of different types of clusters: Van der Waals clusters, metallic clusters, clusters of ionic materials and network clusters. The assembling of clusters is also considered, since specially stable clusters are expected to play a role in the future design and synthesis of new materials.