Influence of chemical disorder on the electronic level spacing distribution of the Ag <inf>5083</inf> nanoparticle: A tight-binding study

In the present work we study, employing a tight-binding Hamiltonian, the influence of chemical disorder on the electronic level spacing distribution of a silver nanoparticle containing 5083 atoms (∼ 5.5 nm). This nanoparticle was obtained by molecular dynamics simulations with a tight-binding atomic potential. The results indicate that in the absence of disorder the level spacing distributions are similar to those expected for systems belonging to the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble. Whereas, after increasing the chemical disorder, the electronic level spacing distribution and the Σ2 statistics tend to the corresponding form for the Poisson Ensemble, i.e., the silver nanoparticle acquires an insulating character which is expected for strongly disordered systems. Hence, this kind of disorder produces the localization of the electronic states of the nanoparticle. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.