Visualization of static Jahn-Teller effects in the fullerene anion C-60

Adsorption of ${\text{C}}_{60}$ on a metallic surface may be expected to result in electronic charge transfer to the organic adsorbant, even if a buffer layer is included between the ${\text{C}}_{60}$ molecules and substrate. Subsequently, intramolecular coupling between the molecule's electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom would be expected to result in species subject to Jahn-Teller (JT) distortions. In this work, we use H\"uckel molecular-orbital theory to visualize the effect that JT interactions may have on ${\text{C}}_{60}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ ions imaged using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Several distortion symmetries and adsorption orientations are considered and the resulting simulations are compared to STM images in the literature.