  The issue of cluster production in heavy-ion collisions is addressed in a new
manner, by implementing cluster correlation into the quantum molecular dynamics
(QMD) transport model. We demonstrate for the first time, the good
potentialities of this popular transport approach in the description of light
cluster production including the deuteron, triton, $^{3}$He and $\alpha$
particle in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies. Both the INDRA and
FOPI experimental data of the total multiplicities of light clusters and the
charge distributions of heavier fragments are reasonably reproduced by the
unified approach. The effects of both the cluster binding energies and the
pauli repulsion are also shown to play crucial roles in the production of
clusters.
