Size-controlled Pd nanocluster grown by plasma gas-condensation method

Syntheses of palladium (Pd) nanoclusters by sputtering gas-condensation technique are reported in this work. The Pd nanocluster size distribution and number of nanoclusters are found to depend on several factors which include the inert gas flow rate (f), sputtering discharge power, and growth region length. The discharge power and the length of the growth region are optimized to produce high nanocluster yield. It is found that low f produces small number of large nanoclusters which can be attributed to the formation of nanoclusters via the two-body collision mechanism. For high f, nanocluster size decreases and the number of nanocluster increases with f. This phenomenon can be assigned to nanocluster formation through three-body collision mechanism.