Electronic Properties of Solid Composed of Al₁₂Ge Clusters

The ab initio pseudopotential local-density studies on the electronic structure and geometry of a theoretical solid are presented with Al₁₂Ge cluster serving as the building block of the material. The results show that bulk material formed from cubic close-packing of Al_l2Ge clusters will eventually be an aluminum-like metal when lattice parameter of the solid and atomic geometry of the clusters are optimized by the crystal field.