Correlation between shape resonance energies and C-C bond length in carbon-containing molecules: Elastic electron scattering and carbon K-shell excitation by photons

Abstract

We document the correlation of shape resonance energies resulting from (i) elastic electron scattering and (ii) carbon K-shell excitation with ic bond order (C-C bond length) for C{sub 2}H{sub 2}, C{sub 2}H{sub 4}, C{sub 2}H{sub 6}, C{sub 3}H{sub 8}, C{sub 4}H{sub 10}, and C{sub 6}H{sub 6}. A relationship between K-shell {sigma} resonances and bond length was experimentally pointed out previously. These correlations are qualitatively interpreted to indicate that as molecular size increases (or as bond length increases), the configuration space available for valence electrons increases, reducing energy levels rather uniformly and mowing these correlations to emerge. The similarity of shape resonances in electron scattering and photoexcitation occurs because major events in the resonances take place slightly outside the molecular field and receive little influence from the inner structure of the molecule.