Elastic and inelastic scattering of low-energy electrons from gas-phase C_60 : elastic scattering angular distributions and coexisting solid-state features revisited

We revisit the crossed-beam experimental results for the elastic scattering of low-energy electrons from gas-phase C_60 , with an emphasis on comparison with the results from ab initio calculations. The relevance of Vincent McKoy’s work, the SMC method, in this respect is demonstrated by our re-normalized data. This is evidenced in the DCS-energy (eV) and DCS-scattering angle ( θ ) space, i.e., in 3D distributions, as the more comprehensive and distinctive features of electron scattering from this typically high-symmetry and large molecule of C_60 . An earlier inconsistency between the experimental data and theoretical absolute DCS values is solved, by re-normalizing the cross sections. Absolute scales are also placed on the inelastic scattering DCS of vibrational and electronic excitations, with the latter being compared with photoabsorption cross sections. In addition, some coexisting solid-state phase features, which emerged in the free molecules of C_60 , are summarized using low-energy electron spectroscopy. Graphic Abstract