Structure and stability of atomic clusters have been studied by time-resolved high-resolution electron microscopy (TRHREM). Typical examples are observations of structural fluctuation in gold (Au) clusters supported on silicon oxide films, graphtized carbon films and magnesium oxide (MgO) films. All the observations have been performed on the clusters consisted of single metal element. Structural stability of ceramics clusters, such as metal-oxide, metal-nitride and metal-carbide clusters, has not been observed by TRHREM although the clusters show anomalous structural and functional properties concerning to solid state physics and materials science.In the present study, the behavior of ceramic, magnesium oxide (MgO) clusters is for the first time observed by TRHREM at 1/60 s time resolution and at atomic resolution down to 0.2 nm.MgO and gold were subsequently deposited on sodium chloride (001) substrates. The specimens, single crystalline MgO films on which Au particles were dispersed were separated in distilled water and observed by using a 200-kV high-resolution electron microscope (JEOL, JEM2010) equipped with a high sensitive TV camera and a video tape recorder system.
René Thom, Structural Stability and Morphogenesis: An Outline of a General Theory of Models (Addison-Wesley, 1975), xxv + 348 pp., $22.50 (cloth), $13.50 (paper).