Elastic Electron Scattering by Diborane(6) and Diborane(4) Molecules.

We present integral, differential, and momentum transfer cross sections for elastic electron collisions with the two most stable isomers of the B 2 H 4 molecule, hereafter referred to as isomer I ( C 2v symmetry) and isomer II ( D 2d symmetry), and with the B 2 H 6 molecule ( D 2h symmetry). The isomer I of B 2 H 4 and the B 2 H 6 molecule are known for their electrodeficiency in the "three-center two-electron" (3c-2e) bond, a region in which a hydrogen atom occupies a bridged position between two non-hydrogen atoms. The cross sections were computed by using the Schwinger multichannel method implemented with norm-conserving pseudopotentials, and the scattering calculations were carried out in the static-exchange and static-exchange plus polarization levels of approximation for energies from 0.1 to 50 eV. We discuss the presence of shape resonances in the scattering cross sections. We also made a direct comparison among the cross sections of these three targets.