Vibronic coupling in the photoemission bands of condensed C60

Fullerene monolayer formation by spray coating

Many large molecular complexes are limited in thin film applications by their insufficient thermal stability, which excludes deposition via commonly used vapour phase deposition methods. Here we demonstrate an alternative way of monolayer formation of large molecules by a simple spray coating method under ambient conditions. This technique has been successfully applied on C(60) dissolved in toluene and carbon disulfide. Monolayer thick C(60) films have been formed on graphite and gold surfaces at particular deposition parameters, as confirmed by atomic force and scanning tunnelling microscopies. Structural and electronic properties of spray coated C(60) films on Au(111) have been found comparable to thermally evaporated C(60). We attribute the monolayer formation in spray coating to a crystallization process mediated by an ultrathin solution film on a sample surface.

Jahn-Teller spectral fingerprint in molecular photoemission: c60

The h(u) hole spectral intensity for C60-->C+60 molecular photoemission is calculated at finite temperature by a parameter-free Lanczos diagonalization of the electron-vibration Hamiltonian, including the full 8 H(g), 6 G(g), and 2 A(g) mode couplings. The computed spectrum at 800 K is in striking agreement with gas-phase data. The energy separation of the first main shoulder from the main photoemission peak, 230 meV in C60, is shown to measure directly and rather generally the strength of the final-state Jahn-Teller coupling.

Experimental evidence of a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in C60(+)

Detailed analysis of the highest occupied molecular orbital band shape in the photoelectron spectrum of gaseous C60 reveals a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in the ground state of C60(+). The direct observation of three tunneling states asserts a D(3d) geometry for the isolated cation, originating from a strong vibronic coupling. These results show that the ionic motion plays an important role in the electron-phonon interaction.

Study of C60/Au(110)-p(6x5) reconstruction from In-plane X-Ray diffraction data

Fullerene molecules absorbed on the highly anisotropic Au(110)-p(1x2) surface induce an ordered p(6x5) superstructure that has been solved by applying the 2D "direct methods" difference sum function to the surface x-ray diffraction data set. We found that the C (60)-gold interface is structurally much more complex than the one previously suggested by scanning tunneling microscopy data [J. K. Gimzewski, S. Modesti, and R. R. Schlittler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 1036 (1994)]. Indeed a large fraction of Au surface atoms are displaced from their original positions producing microscopic pits that may accommodate the fullerene molecules.