Structures of Ge-n clusters (n=3-10) and comparisons to Si-n clusters

Full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital molecular-dynamics calculations ha ve been performed to investigate the structures and energies of small Ge-n (n = 3 - 10) clusters. To make a comparison between Ge-n and Si-n, we have also investigated the structures and energies of Si-n (n = 3 - 10) clusters . It is found that there is much in common between them. Their ground-state structures are about the same except for n = 8 and n = 10. The potential b arrier heights between some important structures have also been presented.