Effects of the structural deformations on the magnetism of Rh6 and Rh13 clusters

The effect of structural deformations on the magnetic and electronic properties of small Rh clusters was studied. The electronic properties were calculated using a self-consistent spd tight-binding Hamiltonian within the unrestricted Hartree-Fock approximation. For hydrostatic deformations, the magnetic moment of the clusters increases with bond-length in a steplike fashion. Axial distortions, on the other hand, affect the magnetism of the clusters in a more complex manner that can be correlated with the local coordination and bond length through the definition of an effective coordination number. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.