Structural evolution and stabilities of neutral and anionic clusters of lead sulfide: Joint anion photoelectron and computational studies

Abstract

The geometric and electronic structures of both neutral and negatively charged lead sulfide clusters, (PbS)n(PbS)n- (n = 2-10) were investigated in a combined anion photoelectron spectroscopy and computational study. Photoelectron spectra provided vertical detachment energies (VDEs) for the cluster anions and estimates of electron affinities (EA) for their neutral cluster counterparts, revealing a pattern of alternating EA and VDE values in which even n clusters exhibited lower EA and VDE values than odd n clusters up until n = 8. Computations found neutral lead sulfide clusters with even n to be thermodynamically more stable than their immediate (odd n) neighbors, with a consistent pattern also being found in their HOMO-LUMO gaps. Analysis of neutral cluster dissociation energies found the Pb4S 4 cube to be the preferred product of the queried fragmentation processes, consistent with our finding that the lead sulfide tetramer exhibits enhanced stability; it is a magic number species. Beyond n = 10, computational studies showed that neutral (PbS)n clusters in the size range, n = 11-15, prefer two-dimensional stacking of face-sharing lead sulfide cubical units, where lead and sulfur atoms possess a maximum of five-fold coordination. The preference for six-fold coordination, which is observed in the bulk, was not observed at these cluster sizes. Taken together, the results show a preference for the formation of slightly distorted, fused cuboids among small lead sulfide clusters. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.