Journal of Structural Biology, Vol.127, No.2, 161-168, 1999
Visualizing "Greengold" clusters in the STEM
"Greengold" is a large metallic cluster thought to contain 75 gold atoms in a compact 1.4-nm-diameter core surrounded by an organic shell. Scanning trans; mission electron microscope imaging shows uniform mass and size distributions with an apparent mass of 24 kDa, unaffected by radiation damage. The signal-to-noise ratio is adequate for visualization at low dose and in the presence of a relatively thick biological matrix. Under some conditions these clusters have a slight tendency to form linear chains and 2-D hexagonal arrays with a spacing of 2.6 nm. The parameters presented permit estimation of the feasibility of proposed labeling experiments.
Keywords:arrays;electron microscopy;gold labeling;mass measurement;Nanogold;signal-to-noise ratio;dose-response