FORMATION OF AgI CLUSTERS BY SPONTANEOUS ALLOYING OF IODINE INTO SILVER CLUSTERS

Alloying behavior of iodine atoms into nm-sized silver clusters has been examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is confirmed that even at such reduced temperatures as ambient temperature, vapor-deposited iodine atoms quickly dissolve into silver clusters, and clusters of either an Ag-I solid solution or the β-AgI compound are formed depending on the iodine concentration in the cluster.