Thermionic Emission and Fragmentation of C60
Abstract
We analyze the rate of delayed (thermionic) ionization of photoexcited C60 molecules. The rate has a power-law dependence, indicating the presence of a continuum of rate constants. The value of the exponent provides information about the competition between delayed ionization and unimolecular fragmentation; it is equal to the ratio of the ionization energy and the activation energy for fragmentation. This result provides a novel method to measure the controversial bond dissociation energy of neutral C60. We obtain a value of 11.9±1.9eV.
Department
Physics
Publication Date
3-24-1997
Journal Title
Physical Reviw Letters
Publisher
APS Physics
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
K. Hansen and O. Echt, Thermionic Emission and Fragmentation of C60, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 (1997) 2337 – 2340, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.2337.
Rights
©1997 American Physical Society