Investigation of the extent, rate, and mechanisms of electron-stimulated modification of the C60 fullerite by EELS

Abstract

A parameter representing the intensity ratio of the two features in the characteristic electron energy loss spectrum that are most sensitive to electron irradiation is proposed for use in characterizing the extent of electron-stimulated modification of fullerite. By normalizing this parameter, we succeeded in obtaining a universal scale for the extent of modification that can be unambiguously related to the π-electron density. The dose dependence of this parameter is shown to be described by one exponential, thus permitting one to conclude that both the polymerization and amorphization of the fullerite are dominated by one mechanism, namely, the formation of intermolecular chemical bonds, which is stimulated by valence-electron excitation. The rate of the electron-stimulated modification, or the dose susceptibility of the material, is defined through the derivative of this parameter. The dependence of this rate on the incident electron energy is obtained. It is shown that structural changes are mainly due to a swarm of numerous secondary and decelerated electrons rather than to the primary electron.