Symmetry breaking and stability of binary clusters

The minimum energy structures, stability, and symmetry breaking of Lennard-Jones binary clusters have been calculated using the pivot method. We found that the cluster dimer displays distinct symmetry breaking and “phase changes” when the interaction between the clusters is different from that within the clusters. The zero temperature phase diagram shows first-order phase transitions between a phase with symmetry of the cluster dimer to phases with symmetry of the giant cluster.