QUANTUM-SIZE COLLOIDS - FROM SIZE-DEPENDENT PROPERTIES OF DISCRETE PARTICLES TO SELF-ORGANIZED SUPERSTRUCTURES

Size quantization effects occurring in nanometer-sized semiconductor a nd metal particles lead to a variety of novel size-dependent propertie s. Lately, preparation techniques have been developed which allow a gr am scale synthesis of single crystalline nanoparticles with narrow siz e distributions and unique surface properties. There have also been re cent findings concerning changes of structure and dynamics with decrea sing particle size along with spectroscopic and transport measurements on individual nanoclusters. The possibility to build up complex order ed superstructures has been demonstrated utilizing self-organization p rocesses of the particles.