Electron Attachment to Higher Fullerenes and to Sc₃N@C₈₀

Abstract

We report on attachment of free electrons to fullerenes C(n) (n = 60, 70, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 86) and to Sc(3)N@C(80). The attachment cross sections exhibit a strong resonance at 0 eV for all species. The overall shape of the anion yield versus electron energy is quite similar for the higher fullerenes, with a minimum around 1 eV and a maximum which gradually shifts from 6 eV for C(60) to approximately 4 eV for large n. The endohedral Sc(3)N@C(80) exhibits a particularly shallow minimum and a maximum below 4 eV. We model autoionization of the anions with due consideration of the internal energy distributions. The relatively low electron affinity of Sc(3)N@C(80) is reflected in its reduced ion yield at higher attachment energies.