Metal Nanoparticles:From'Artificial Atoms'to'Artificial Molecules'

摘要

Nanostructured materials often exhibit properties which are unusual for bulk materials of the same composition.When the size of nanostructures shrinks below a certain threshold,for example,they may behave as quantum dots,that is,as zero-dimensional systems in which the charge carriers are confined in atomic-like potentials.To harness nanoscale properties for applications,one must be able to control the size of the nanostructures as well as their assembly into macroscopic structures(such as arrays or films).