Anomalous low-energy electron attachment in C_{60}

TL;DR

This paper proposes that low-energy electron attachment to C60 occurs mainly via p-wave channels, explaining experimental activation energy through a simple model based on vibron excitation and centrifugal barrier effects.

Contribution

It introduces a model emphasizing p-wave attachment in C60, accounting for experimental data and explaining the activation energy with the centrifugal barrier concept.

Findings

Attachment occurs mainly in the p-wave channel.

The model accurately reproduces recent experimental data.

The activation energy is attributed to the p-wave centrifugal barrier.

Abstract

We propose that thermal electron attachment to C$_{60}$ should occur preferentially in the p-wave channel, following an analysis of the vibron excitation spectrum of C$_{60}^-$. A very simple model based on this idea is shown to account very well for recent attachment data. The unexplained activation energy of $\approx$ 0.26 eV found experimentally is attributed to the p-wave centrifugal barrier.