Swift Heavy Ion Induced Modification Studies of C60 Thin Films

摘要

Modification induced by 110 MeV Ni ion irradiated thin film samples of C60 onSi and quartz substrates were studied at various fluences. The pristine andirradiated samples were investigated using Raman spectroscopy, electricalconductivity and optical absorption spectroscopy. The Raman data and band gapmeasurements indicate that swift ions at low fluences result in formations thatinvolve multiple molecular units like dimer or polymer. High fluenceirradiation resulted in sub-molecular formations and amorphous semiconductingcarbon, indicating overall damage of the fullerene molecules. Thesesub-molecular units have been identified with nanocrystalline diamond andnanocrystalline graphite like formations.