Equilibrium geometries of low-lying isomers of some Li clusters, within Hartree-Fock theory plus bond order or MP2 correlation corrections.
In a recent study by Kornath et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 118, 6957 (2003)], the Li(n) clusters with n=2, 4, and 8 have been isolated in argon matrices at 15 K and characterized by Raman spectroscopy. This has prompted us to carry out a theoretical study on such clusters up to n=10, using Hartree-Fock theory, plus low-order Møller-Plesset perturbation corrections. To check against the above study of Kornath et al., as a by-product we have made the same approximations for n=6 and 8 as we have for n=10. This has led us to emphasize trends with n through the Li(n) clusters for (i) ground-state energy, (ii) HOMO-LUMO energy gap, (iii) dissociation energy, and (iv) Hartree-Fock eigenvalue sum. The role of electron correlation in distinguishing between low-lying isomers is plainly crucial, and will need a combination of experiment and theory to obtain decisive results such as that of Kornath et al. for Li(8). In particular, it is shown that Hartree-Fock theory plus bond order correlations does account for the experimentally observed symmetry T(d) symmetry for Li(8).
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Facolta di Farmacia, Università di Catania, Viale A. Doria, 6, I-95126 Catania, Italy.
A
A
Grassi
G M
GM
Lombardo
G G N
GG
Angilella
N H
NH
March
R
R
Pucci