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Published on: November 11, 2013
Rovibrational quantum state resolution of the C60 fullerene
P Bryan Changala1, Marissa L Weichman2, Kevin F Lee3
1JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. bryan.changala@colorado.edu ye@jila.colorado.edu.
Abstract:
The unique physical properties of buckminsterfullerene, C60, have attracted intense research activity since its original discovery. Total quantum state-resolved spectroscopy of isolated C60 molecules has been of particularly long-standing interest. Such observations have, to date, been unsuccessful owing to the difficulty in preparing cold, gas-phase C60 in sufficiently high densities. Here we report high-resolution infrared absorption spectroscopy of C60 in the 8.5-micron spectral region (1180 to 1190 wave number). A combination of cryogenic buffer-gas cooling and cavity-enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy has enabled the observation of quantum state-resolved rovibrational transitions. Characteristic nuclear spin statistical intensity patterns confirm the indistinguishability of the 60 carbon-12 atoms, while rovibrational fine structure encodes further details of the molecule's rare icosahedral symmetry.
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