Transitions between Volume-Localized Electron Quantum Levels of Fullerene C60 Ion

TL;DR

This paper analytically investigates volume-localized electron quantum levels in fullerene C60 ions, revealing their properties, interaction with electrons, and potential for coherent radiation, advancing understanding of fullerene ion electronic structure.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified spherical model for fullerene ions to analyze volume-localized electron levels and their interactions, including transition dipole moments and recombination cross-sections.

Findings

Volume-localized electron levels exist inside fullerene ions.

Electron capture probabilities to VLELs are higher than to SLELs.

Dipole moments for transitions vary from 0.2 to 5 atomic units.

Abstract

The excited short-lived volume-localized electron quantum levels (VLELs) existent due to Coulomb potential well inside positive ion are analytically investigated in the paper using a simplified spherical fullerene model. Hence, those electron levels appear exclusively after the ionization of neutral fullerene taking into account the unique geometrical shape of sphere. The existence of those levels is argued, and their basic parameters (the energy levels, the wave eigenfunctions) are approximately calculated. The wave functions of VLELs are basically localized inside fullerene ion sphere (with a maximum amplitude in the centre) in contrast to ordinary surface-localized electron levels (SLELs) having a wave functions in the vicinity of fullerene sphere formed by the cluster composed of carbon ions. Contrary to VLELs, the wave functions of SLELs are present both in charged and neutral fullerene. The analysis of electron beam interaction with the medium consistent of fullerenes ions is conducted as the application of the methods developed. The analytical dependencies of free electron recombination cross-sections for the capture to the volume-localized electron levels are obtained. It is shown that the probabilities of electron capture to these VLELs are considerably larger compared to capture to SLELs. Also, the calculational results of dipole moments for quantum transitions from fullerene ions VLELs to other VLELs and to SLELs with spontaneous photon emission are also presented in the paper. The calculated dipole moments depend on fullerene ionization extent, initial and final electron states, and are varied from about 0.2 to 5 in atomic system of units. Finally, the principal possibility of coherent radiation generation on fullerene ions VLELs is discussed.