SIZE-DEPENDENT MELTING PROPERTIES OF SMALL TIN PARTICLES - NANOCALORIMETRIC MEASUREMENTS

For the first time, the latent heat of fusion Delta H-m for Sn particl es formed by evaporation on inert substrate with radii ranging from 5 to 50 nm has been measured directly using a novel scanning nanocalorim eter. A particle-size-dependent reduction of Delta H-m has been observ ed. An ''excluded volume'' is introduced to describe the latent heat o f fusion from the enhanced surface melting of small particles. Melting point depression has also been found by our nanocalorimetric techniqu e.