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Updated: May 11, 2026

Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene
Published on: August 22, 2017
Formations of dumbbell C118 and C119 inside clusters of C60 molecules by collision with α particles
H Zettergren1, P Rousseau, Y Wang
1Department of Physics, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. henning@fysik.su.se
Abstract:
We report highly selective covalent bond modifications in collisions between keV alpha particles and van der Waals clusters of C(60) fullerenes. Surprisingly, C(119)(+) and C(118)(+) are the dominant molecular fusion products. We use molecular dynamics simulations to show that C(59)(+) and C(58)(+) ions--effectively produced in prompt knockout processes with He(2+)--react rapidly with C(60) to form dumbbell C(119)(+) and C(118)(+). Ion impact on molecular clusters in general is expected to lead to efficient secondary reactions of interest for astrophysics. These reactions are different from those induced by photons.
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