Vibrational and thermodynamic properties of metal clusters with up to 150 atoms calculated by the embedded-atom method

The full vibrational spectrum of NiN and CuN clusters for clusters with N from 2 to 150 has been determined. The vibrational frequencies show a highly irregular behavior as function of cluster size and geometry. Furthermore, using the obtained results, we determine quantum mechanically the thermodynamics of the clusters using the superposition approximation. The obtained heat capacity shows clear cluster-size effects. In addition, the solid-solid transition temperature for several structural changes in nickel and copper clusters has been calculated.