Fragmentation, charge transfer and chemical reactions in C60+/C70+-SF6 collisions

Collisions of C-60(+) and C-70(+) with SF6 were investigated in a time of flight mass spectrometer and compared with the results of collisions with Ar and Xe. Reaction cross sections were determined as a function of the center of mass collision energy between 25 and 300 eV. The influence of thermal excitation on fragmentation was examined. The effects of additional vibrational degrees of freedom in the case of SF6 on the fragmentation cross sections are discussed. Charge transfer reactions producing C-60(2+) or C-70(2+) were observed only with SF6. Thermal electron emission from highly excited C-60(-) was used for the formation of an intense neutral C-60 beam with 1 keV kinetic energy which was used to investigate charge transfer in neutral C-60+SF6 collisions. Reaction products CnF+, n = 1-11, were found in SF6 collisions. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.