Scaling-Up Cluster Beam Deposition: From Metastability in Nanoparticles to the Solvent-Free Production of Heterogeneous Catalysts, Sensors and Biochips

Size-selected nanoparticles (atomic clusters), deposited onto supports from the beam in the absence of solvents, represent a new class of model systems for nanoscale science and applications such as catalysis, with potential for small-scale manufacturing of functional materials. To translate these novel and well-controlled systems into practical use, two major challenges have to be addressed.