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arXiv · 1503.02975

Fusion mechanism in fullerene-fullerene collisions -- The deciding role of giant oblate-prolate motion

Jan Handt·Ruediger Schmidt
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Abstract

We provide answers to long-lasting questions in the puzzling behavior of fullerene-fullerene fusion: Why are the fusion barriers so exceptionally high and the fusion cross sections so extremely small? An ab initio nonadiabatic quantum molecular dynamics (NA-QMD) analysis of C$_{60}$+C$_{60}$ collisions reveals that the dominant excitation of an exceptionally "giant" oblate-prolate H$_g(1)$ mode plays the key role in answering both questions. From these microscopic calculations, a macroscopic collision model is derived, which reproduces the NA-QMD results. Moreover, it predicts analytically fusion barriers for different fullerene-fullerene combinations in excellent agreement with experiments.

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Jan Handt, Ruediger Schmidt. 2015-03-09. Fusion mechanism in fullerene-fullerene collisions -- The deciding role of giant oblate-prolate motion. https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/109/63001

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