Ab-initio study on low-lying states of the TiSi molecule

Abstract

The electronic structure of the TiSi molecule was examined using two types of multireference single and double excitation configuration interactions with highly extended basis sets, one including valence correlation and the other including valence and core–valence correlation. A multireference coupled-pair approximation (MRCPA) was further applied to the latter. The calculations suggest a 5Δ ground state, and the lowest excited state is 3Π and is only slightly (0.12 eV as estimated by MRCPA) above the ground state. The spectroscopic constants of the low-lying 1Δ, 3Δ, 1Π, 5Π, and 7Σ+ states as well as the 5Δ ground state and the 3Π excited states were evaluated, and we found that the molecule has only a weak σ bond and that six of the eight valence electrons essentially do not contribute to the bonding. The bonding nature of TiSi in these states is discussed in comparison with the TiC molecule.