Bond formation in C + 59 – C 60 collisions

H. Zettergren (1) , P. Rousseau (2) , Y. Wang (3) , F. Seitz (1) , T Chen (1) , M. Gatchell (1) , J Alexander (1) , M Stockett (1) , J. Rangama (2) , J Chesnel (2) , M. Capron (2) , J Poully (2) , A. Domaracka (2) , A. Méry (2) , S. Maclot (2) , V. Vizcaino (2) , H. Schmidt (1) , L. Adoui (2) , M. Alcamí (4) , A. Tielens (5) , F. Martin (6) , B. A. Huber (2) , H. Cederquist (1)

1 Department of Physics [Stockholm]
2 CIMAP - UMR 6252 - Centre de recherche sur les Ions, les MAtériaux et la Photonique
3 ICCF - Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand
4 Departemento de Quimica
5 Universiteit Leiden = Leiden University
6 CEA-DES (ex-DEN) - CEA-Direction des Energies (ex-Direction de l'Energie Nucléaire)

In this work, we show that keV-ions are able to remove single carbon atoms from individual fullerenes in clusters of C₆₀ molecules. This very efficiently leads to the formation of exotic C⁺₁₁₉ dumbbell molecules through secondary C⁺₅₉ + C₆₀ collisions within the fragmenting cluster. Such molecular fusion processes are inherently different from those induced by photons where only products with even numbers of carbon atoms are observed. Thus, ion collisions ignite unique and hitherto overlooked secondary reactions in small aggregates of matter. This relates to the question on how complex molecules may form in e.g. space.

Domaines: Chimie-Physique [physics.chem-ph]; Agrégats Moléculaires et Atomiques [physics.atm-clus]

H. Zettergren, P. Rousseau, Y. Wang, F. Seitz, T Chen, et al.. Bond formation in C + 59 – C 60 collisions. 28th International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions, Jul 2013, Lanzhou, China. pp.012028, ⟨10.1088/1742-6596/488/1/012028⟩. ⟨hal-02894146⟩