Large electric dipole moments and even-odd effects observed in Bi clusters.

The electric and magnetic response of Bi$_N$ (N=1-40) produced in a cryogenic molecular beam (15K-30K) shows that these clusters have large electric dipole moments as previously observed in ferroelectric Nb, V, and Ta clusters. The electric deflection profiles are measured as a function of size, field, and source temperature. Bi clusters exhibit the characteristic even-odd oscillations with even N showing an enhanced response. The clusters are paramagnetic but the odd-N clusters have enhanced susceptibilities. These results will be discussed and compared with other work done on low-dimensional bismuth nanostructures.