In this paper we present a theoretical study of the structure,energetics,potential energy surfaces,and energetic stability of excess electron bubbles in (~4He)_N (N=6500-10~6) clusters.The subsystem of the helium atoms was treated by the density functional method.The density profile was specified by a void (i.e.,an empty bubble) at the cluster center,a rising profile towards a constant interior value (described by a power exponential),and a decreasing profile near the cluster surface (described in terms of a Gudermannian function).The cluster surface density profile width (approx 6 A) weakly depends on the bubble radius R_b,while the interior surface profile widths (approx 4-8 A) increase with increasing R_b.The cluster deformation energy E_d accompanying the bubble formation originates from the bubble surface energy,the exterior cluster surface energy change,and the energy increase due to intracluster density changes,with the latter term providing the dominant contribution for N= 6500-2 X 10~5.The excess electron energy E_e was calculated at a fixed nuclear configuration using a pseudopotential method,with an effective (nonlocal) potential,which incorporates repulsion and polarization effects.Concurrently,the energy V_0 of the quasi-free-electron within the deformed cluster was calculated.The total electron bubble energies E_t=E_e+E_d,which represent the energetic configurational diagrams of E_t vs R_b,(at fixed N,provide the equilibrium bubble radii R_b~c and the corresponding total equilibrium energies E_t~e,with E_t~e(R_e) decreasing (increasing) with increasing N (i.e.,at N=6500,R_e=13.5 A and E_t~e=0.86 eV,while at N=1.8 X 10~5,R_e=16.6 A and E_t~e=0.39 eV).The cluster size dependence of the energy gap (V_0 -E_t~e) allows for the estimate of the minimal (~4He)_N,cluster size of N approx= 5200 for which the electron bubble is energetically stable.
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