Jahn-Teller effects and surface interactions in multiply-charged fullerene anions and the effect on scanning tunneling microscopy images

Dunn, Janette L.; Alqannas, Haifa S.; Lakin, Andrew J.

Abstract

We investigate the combined effects of Jahn-Teller (JT) coupling and interactions with a surface substrate on fullerene anions C$_{60}^{2-}$ to C$_{60}^{4-}$. JT coupling alone causes the C$_{60}$ ions to instantaneously distort from the icosahedral symmetry of the neutral molecule to a lower symmetry, with the molecule moving dynamically between a set of equivalent distortions. When adsorbed on a surface, the number of equivalent minimum-energy distortions is reduced. The implications of this on observed scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images will be discussed, and comparisons made with existing experimental data. We show that a consistent interpretation of the images from all of the charge states of C$_{60}$ can only be obtained using a JT model in which the symmetry is further reduced by surface interactions. The comparison with experimental data also allows us to determine relationships between the quadratic Jahn-Teller coupling and surface interaction parameters.

Citation

Dunn, J. L., Alqannas, H. S., & Lakin, A. J. (2015). Jahn-Teller effects and surface interactions in multiply-charged fullerene anions and the effect on scanning tunneling microscopy images. Chemical Physics, 460, 14-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphys.2015.05.016

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 31, 2015
• Online Publication Date: May 27, 2015
• Publication Date: Oct 16, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jul 15, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: May 28, 2017
• Journal: Chemical Physics
• Print ISSN: 0301-0104
• Electronic ISSN: 0301-0104
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 460
• Pages: 14-25
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphys.2015.05.016
• Keywords: Jahn-Teller, Fullerene, Fulleride, STM
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/751220
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301010415001408