Evidence for a solid phase of dodecahedral C 20

Abstract

Evidence is presented for the formation of a solid phase based on the smallest fullerene, C20, in thin diamond-like carbon films deposited by ultraviolet laser ablation from diamond onto nickel substrates at room temperature in the presence of 10-4 torr of cyclohexane or benzene. Laser desorption mass spectrometry from the films shows the presence of C20, C21 and C22 species, while micro-Raman spectroscopy and electron diffraction from selected particles together with first principle density-functional calculations, indicate a cubic solid with dodecahedral C20 cages as building blocks. Unlike solid C60 and fully protonated C20, which are bound by van der Waals forces, the proposed structure is stabilized by linking of the C20 dodecahedra with bridging carbon atoms at interstitial tetrahedral sites to form a face-centered-cubic lattice with 22 carbon atoms per unit cell.