Synthesis and characterization of anisometric cobalt nanoclusters.

Sonication of aqueous Co(2+) and hydrazine resulted in the formation of anisometric (disk-shaped) cobalt nanoclusters that averaged about 100 nanometers in width and 15 nanometers in thickness. Electron diffraction from single particles revealed that they were oriented (001) crystals that conformed to a trigonal or hexagonal unit cell four times the size of the cell adopted by bulk alpha-cobalt. Lorentz microscopy indicated that these were single-magnetic domain particles, with the axis of magnetization located in the (101) plane, offset at some appreciable angle from the (001) axis.