Thin film deposition from beams of atomic clusters, some of which are ionized and accelerated to the growing surface, was first proposed in 1972 but suffered from controversy over cluster formation conditions during the 1980s. Development of suitable cluster sources has been difficult and large clusters of zinc (about 2000 atoms per cluster) have only recently been produced in the 1990s. The conditions for cluster synthesis without using a carrier gas presently require a high vapor pressure, 1000 Torr or more, thus severely limiting the materials from which cluster beams can be formed. Our results now suggest that the nozzle is serving as the heat sink for the heat of condensation of the zinc clusters. Effects of further intentional cooling of the nozzle on zinc cluster distributions are reported. An additional problem is the development of suitable real-time cluster measurement methods. Two different methods using simultaneous beam velocity and energy analysis are presented. One method is based on mechanical beam chopping and the other on electrostatic beam chopping.