Excited and ionized states of ozone studied by the MEG (multi-exponentially generated)/EX (excited)-MEG method

Computation of Molecular Ionization Energies Using an Ensemble Density Functional Theory Method

Computation of the ionization energies and of the respective Dyson orbitals based on the use of the extended Koopmans theorem (EKT) is implemented in connection with an ensemble density functional theory (eDFT) method, the state-interaction state-averaged spin-restricted ensemble-referenced Kohn-Sham (SI-SA-REKS or SSR) method. The new methodology enables fast computation of the ionization energies and evaluation of the respective Dyson orbitals, the square norms of which are related with the ionization probabilities, in the ground and excited electronic states of molecules. As the application of EKT recycles the intermediate quantities from the SSR analytical energy gradient, evaluation of the ionization energies and probabilities can be carried out on-the-fly during the nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations. This opens up a perspective for fast theoretical simulation of the time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy observations. In the present work, the new methodology is tested in the computation of the ionization energies and Dyson orbitals of several molecules in the ground and excited electronic states, including strongly correlated species, such as the ozone molecule, dissociating chemical bonds, and conical intersections.

Attosecond electronic and nuclear quantum photodynamics of ozone monitored with time and angle resolved photoelectron spectra

Recently we reported a series of numerical simulations proving that it is possible in principle to create an electronic wave packet and subsequent electronic motion in a neutral molecule photoexcited by a UV pump pulse within a few femtoseconds. We considered the ozone molecule: for this system the electronic wave packet leads to a dissociation process. In the present work, we investigate more specifically the time-resolved photoelectron angular distribution of the ozone molecule that provides a much more detailed description of the evolution of the electronic wave packet. We thus show that this experimental technique should be able to give access to observing in real time the creation of an electronic wave packet in a neutral molecule and its impact on a chemical process.

Toward the observation of quartet states of the ozone radical cation: insights from coupled cluster theory

Since the discovery of ozone depletion, the doublet electronic states of the ozone radical cation have received much attention in experimental and theoretical investigations, while the low-lying quartet states have not. In the present research, viable pathways to the quartet states from the lowest three triplet states of ozone, (3)A(2), (3)B(2), and (3)B(1), and excitations from the (2)A(1) and (2)B(2) states of the ozone radical cation have been studied in detail. The potential energy surfaces, structural optimizations, and vibrational frequencies for several states of ozone and its radical cation have been thoroughly investigated using the complete active space self-consistent field, unrestricted coupled cluster theory from a restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock reference including all single and double excitations (UCCSD), UCCSD method with the effects of connected triple excitations included perturbatively, and unrestricted coupled cluster including all single, double, and triple excitations with the effects of connected quadruple excitations included perturbatively. These methods used Dunning's correlation-consistent polarized core-valence basis sets, cc-pCVXZ (X = D, T, Q, and 5). The most feasible pathways (symmetry and spin allowed transitions) to the quartet states are (4)A(1)<--(3)A(2), (4)A(2)<--(3)A(2), (4)A(1)<--(3)B(2), (4)A(2)<--(3)B(1), (4)B(2)<--(3)B(1), (4)A(2)<--(1)A(1), (4)B(2)<--(1)A(1), and (4)A(1)<--(1)A(1) with vertical ionization potentials of 12.46, 12.85, 12.82, 12.46, 12.65, 13.43, 13.93, and 14.90 eV, respectively.