Multiple ionization and fragmentation of fullerene dimers by highly charged ion impact

Abstract

We have studied the stabilities of multiply charged van der Waals dimers in slow Xe30+ + [C60]2([C60C70], [C70]2) → Xe(30-s)+ + [C60]2r+([C60C70]r+, [C70]2r+) + (r-s)e-electron-transfer collisions (v = 0.4 a.u. and r ≤ 7). The relative ionization cross sections display even-odd variations as functions of r for [C60]2r+, [C60C70]r+, and [C70]2r+. This is in clear contrast to the typical smooth decreasing behavior of the cross sections for multiple ionization of fullerene monomers, which can be explained within the framework of the classical over-the-barrier model. In addition, we report the branching ratios and the kinetic energy releases for the dominant fragmentation processes that yield intact fullerenes. The experimental results are discussed in view of a simple electrostatic model for dimer ionization and recent results from high level density functional theory calculations.