Calculation of the photodetachment cross sections of the HCN- and HNC- dipole-bound anions as described by a one-electron Drude model.

The Drude model for treating the interaction of excess electrons with polar molecules is extended to calculate continuum functions and to evaluate photodetachment cross sections. The approach is applied to calculate the cross sections for photodetachment of dipole-bound electrons from HCN- and HNC-. In addition, an adiabatic model separating the angular and radial degrees of freedom of the excess electron is introduced and shown to account in a qualitative manner for the cross sections. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]