title: A universal mechanism of the planar boron rotors B11-, B13+, B15+, and B19-: inner wheels rotating in pseudo-rotating outer bearings.
abstract: Planar boron clusters B11-, B13+, B15+, and B19-have been introduced recently as molecular Wankel motors or tank treads. Here we present a universal mechanism for these dynamically fluxional clusters; that is, they are molecular rotors with inner wheels that rotate almost freely in pseudo-rotating outer bearings, analogous to rotating molecules trapped in pseudo-rotating cages. This mechanism has significant quantum mechanical consequences: the global-minimum structures of the clusters have C2vsymmetry, whereas the wheels rotating in pseudo-rotating bearings generate rosette-type shapes with D9h, D10h, D11h, and D13hsymmetries. The related rotational/pseudo-rotational energies appear with characteristic band structures, effecting the dynamics.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China. ygyang@sxu.edu.cn and Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3711-2842
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China. ygyang@sxu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Dongming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Nanocluster Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China. hj.zhai@sxu.edu.cn lisidian@sxu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ying-Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Nanocluster Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China. hj.zhai@sxu.edu.cn lisidian@sxu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hua-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China. ygyang@sxu.edu.cn and Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Man
authors.affiliation: Nanocluster Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China. hj.zhai@sxu.edu.cn lisidian@sxu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Si-Dian
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5666-0591
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Li