Cage opening and fragmentation of C₆₀ fullerene induced by an ultrashort laser pulse

Abstract

Response of C₆₀ fullerene to a 40 fs full-width at half-maximum laser pulse with a photon energy of 2.0 eV and different laser intensities is studied by semiclassical dynamics simulation technique. The simulation results show that soon after the irradiation with a strong laser pulse, many C–C bonds abruptly break but no fragments are produced. The breaking of multiple C–C bonds induces a quick increase in the kinetic energy and potential energy and a decrease in electronic energy. These results suggest that the opening of the C₆₀ cage is an effective channel for the conversion of electronic energy to kinetic energy for the electronically excited C₆₀ fullerene.

Keywords:

• fullerene
• semiclassical
• dynamics simulation
• ultrashort laser

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 20773168). Acknowledgement is also made to the donors of the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund for supporting this research at Nicholls State University. The Supercomputer Facility at Texas A&M University provided computational assistance.